The Fires of Vengeance: Chapter 4: Gambling With Sano
Well, I'm back with a new chapter. I'm skipping the long author's note for this chapter since they seem pretty much pointless, so I'll go straight to the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: For the fourth time in this fic, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin and anything associated with it. This idea, however, is solely my property and I also own Reiko. YAY! I'm not possessionless! (Is that even a word?)
~Six years later~
"Reiko, get up! Sano's taking you to school!" came Kaoru's voice. Reiko groggily turned away from her, pulling the covers over her head. "Now, Reiko. You don't want to miss your first day." Kaoru's voice was kind, but stern.
"But what's the point, mommy?" Reiko asked, finally giving in. "I already know how to cook, clean, sew, and make babies. I also know how to do laundry, and I even like to. What's the point of school?"
"I'm well aware that you would be the perfect housewife if I were to have you married right now, but in school you'll also learn how to read and write. Do you know how to do that, then, my perfect child?" Kaoru questioned.
"Of course I do! Sano taught me how to read and write!" Reiko retorted. Kaoru eyed her daughter suspiciously.
"Just what exactly did Sano teach you to write?" she asked.
"Bad!"
"Excuse me?"
"He taught me how to write and read the word 'bad'," said Reiko.
"Mm hmm, and just what else did Sano teach you? What's this about making babies?" Kaoru asked, praying that the answer she would get would not be the one she was expecting. 'And if it is,' she thought, 'I'll kill Sanosuke.'
"You know, how to feed them, clean up their poop, and diaper them. Also that they come from cabbage patches," Reiko replied airily. "So I don't have to go to school," she added hopefully.
"Yes you do," Kaoru informed her. "That's not all there is to life, Reiko-chan."
"Mommy! They'll make me sing! They always make girls sing at school!" Reiko whined. "And you know I can't sing...why can't I just stay with you? Yahiko never goes to school!"
"That doesn't matter. I still want you to go to school. And later you'll thank me for it," Kaoru said.
"I hate it when you say that," Reiko mumbled.
Sanosuke stuck his head into the room. "Are you ready yet?"
"You're taking me to school, Sano?" Reiko asked.
"I told you he was," Kaoru said to Reiko.
"Well...I must not have heard you." She got out of bed and ran over to Sanosuke, hugging his leg tightly. "Yay! Uncle Sano's taking me to school!"
"Yeah, but I've got lots of things to do today so you better hurry up or I'll drag you there by your ankles," Sanosuke warned. Kaoru rolled her eyes and Reiko shouted, "No you won't! I'll bash you on the head with my bokuto first!"
"I'd like to see you try, Jou-chan," Sanosuke said.
"Fine! I will!" She jumped up and ran over to the part of her room where she kept her wooden sword. Picking it up, she wondered, 'Why can't I just stay home and learn swordsmanship? Then I wouldn't have to bash Sano on the head. I could actually use the Kamiya Kasshin ryuu.' (A/N: I'm not sure if I said it before or not, but ryuu means "style.") She sighed heavily.
"What happened, Reiko? You changed your mind?" Sanosuke asked. She sighed again.
"I don't feel right about bashing you on the head. I'm sure that's not a part of the Kamiya Kasshin ryuu, and I don't want to act like a baby anyway," she replied, studying her sword. It was her most prized possession, yet she had never actually used it. It looked brand new.
"Okay, Reiko. We'll make a deal. If you go to school, then I'll teach you the Kamiya Kasshin ryuu when you have free time. Okay?" Kaoru offered. Reiko suddenly brightened.
"Okay!"
"Good, Reiko. Now, Sanosuke, you go get your meal that I know you'll never pay me back for, and Reiko, you get dressed," Kaoru ordered. Sanosuke didn't bother replying, but the words "It's too early in the morning for this," were decipherable as he left the room. Reiko, however, wasn't as easy to command.
"You're not lying, are you?" she asked Kaoru. "You WILL teach me the Kamiya Kasshin ryuu?"
"Have I ever lied to you?"
"Probably," said Reiko, smiling. "I'm not as stupid as you think I am, now am I?"
Kaoru smiled back. "Yes you are. You're being suspicious for no reason."
"No I'm not!" Reiko cried, insulted.
"Just get dressed. I'm actually going to let you wear whatever you like, so make it quick and don't spend an hour deciding," Kaoru told her. "Call me when you're done so I can brush your hair."
"I can brush my own hair, thank you very much!" said Reiko indignantly. Smiling, Kaoru tousled her daughter's hair.
"Just don't give the teachers this much of a hard time," she told her. "And besides, you know your hair is impossible to manage."
"Oh fine," Reiko said as she heard her mother close the door behind her. 'It was kind of stupid for her to tell me not to take a long time. It's not like I have that many clothes to choose from.' She thought. After she stared at every kimono she owned, Reiko finally chose a lavender one with a navy obi. Looking in the mirror, she realized it went nicely with her eye color. Now if she could only do something to make her thick, puffy black hair stay down...
Sighing and realizing that her mother had a point when it came to her hair, Reiko called, "Mommy! I finished!"
"Not bad..." Kaoru noted when she saw her. "Although your obi's not tied too well."
"These things are hard to tie, mommy!" Reiko complained. "You've got to be really good at weaving or something!"
"It's okay. You actually tied it better than I did when I was your age. So go stand in front of the mirror so I can fix your hair," Kaoru said, laughing. Reiko did as she was bid, although with much complaint, and Kaoru tried taming Reiko's hair. 'She's so much like him. She looks like him, acts like him, heck, she almost is him. Even if she does have my hair color, it's exactly like Kenshin's. I'm surprised she doesn't ask me to tie it in a low ponytail like his.' Kaoru thought with a bemused smile on her face. 'Thank god she's never asked about him.I don't know what I'd say.'
Noticing the brush had been stationary for quite a while, Reiko asked in a concerned voice, "Mommy, are you okay?"
Shaking her head, Kaoru replied, "Yeah, I'm fine." She resumed brushing her hair. 'I have to stop thinking about him. It only brings me pain. Besides, I haven't heard from Kenshin in years. He probably doesn't think about me at all.' She finished and tied Reiko's hair with her own indigo ribbon. 'It should be hers. It has Kenshin's blood on it, after all, even if it's not visible. And Kenshin's blood is basically hers.' (A/N: Does anyone know what ribbon I'm talking about? It was the one Kaoru gave to Kenshin right before she was kidnapped by Udou Jinei, or however the hell you spell the guy's name. When he gave it back to her, it was stained with blood. Someone MUST know what I'm talking about!)
Reiko was no stranger to the fact that she would normally not be allowed to touch her mother's favorite ribbon, let alone wear it. "Mommy, are you sure I can wear your ribbon?" she asked cautiously to prevent being blamed for it later on. For some reason, she pictured her mother chasing her around and screaming at her in the event that something happened to it.
"Of course it's okay. It's yours now, Reiko. Now off to school."
"But mommy," Reiko whined, "my hair is still puffy! Can't you make it stay down?"
"Reiko, you know I've tried. It's not my fault your hair does that," Kaoru said.
"Then whose fault is it?" Reiko asked. When Kaoru was silent, she said, "See, it is your fault!"
"Are you done yet? I have stuff to do!" Sanosuke said, poking his head into the room again.
Relief swept through Kaoru as she said, "Off to school, Reiko."
* * *
"All right class," Reiko's teacher said loudly. "We're going to have our first lesson."
"Oh, please, Inoue-sensei," a boy named Masashi called loudly. "Like we really need to learn how to write our name. Everyone should know that by the time they're two. If they don't know when they go to school then they're stupid." His declaration would've normally made Reiko get very upset, but she wasn't paying attention to anything going on inside the classroom. In fact, she hadn't heard a single word the teacher had said since she entered it. Reiko just stared longingly out the window, wondering when it would be time for her to go home.
"Fine then," Mrs. Inoue said. "If you're all as smart as...what's your name?"
"Masashi Ikeda," he told her lazily.
"Well, if you're all as smart as him then you can write your name on your own. Anyone who's never learned how, I'll be walking around and helping you." Reiko didn't hear any of this, either. She put her head down on her crossed arms and continued staring out the window.
Eventually, though, Mrs. Inoue came up to her. "Well? Why is your paper blank?" she demanded.
For the first time upon entering the room, Reiko acknowledged her teacher's existence. "Oro?" she asked.
"Your paper. It's blank. When I asked who didn't know how to write their name, you didn't say anything. Do you?" Mrs. Inoue asked her.
Reiko, only half-listening to her teacher's question, picked up her paper and scribbled the character for "bad" on it. "Happy?" she asked.
Mrs. Inoue stared at her, a mix of puzzlement, astonishment, and amusement on her face. "What's your name, child?" she asked Reiko.
"Reiko Kamiya," Reiko replied, finally giving her teacher her full and undivided attention. "Why?"
"Well, here you have written the kanji for 'bad'," she told Reiko.
"So?"
"We were writing our names, Kamiya," Mrs. Inoue replied coldly. "Your name is not 'bad', is it?"
"Whoops," said Reiko carelessly.
"What an idiot," Masashi remarked, not bothering to keep his voice down.
"What did you say?" Reiko asked him, glaring as hard as she could.
"Well, you're an idiot. And a girl. In other words, you're absolutely worthless in this world," he said. Reiko jumped up.
"Baka!" she screamed at him. "Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? You're not my mom!"
"I'm well aware of that," he said calmly. Reiko opened her mouth to say something, but when no genius comeback came to her she shut it.
"Ikeda, how old are you?" the teacher asked.
"Ten," Masashi replied, not taking his eyes off Reiko.
"Well, that explains it. No wonder you could write your name when no one else in the class could. And no wonder you use words like that, too," Mrs. Inoue said.
"So that's it?" Reiko asked her. "You're not going to tell him off? It's okay that he just said that?" The teacher shrugged. Reiko felt her eyes brimming with tears, but she held them back. There was no way she would give in and cry, not for these two morons.
"Maybe I'll stand up for you when you show some more respect and pay attention," Mrs. Inoue told her, not bothering to disguise the indifference in her voice.
The rest of the day passed by no better. Masashi never missed a chance to shoot Reiko a smug look from across the room or to make some snide remark when the teacher was no where near. Reiko could do nothing but turn away. She'd never been a strong person. Whenever she was feeling down, she always found refuge in her room with the doors shut and her tears free. But now, she couldn't run off home. She had to bear everything until the moment she was released from this prison. The one thing that kept her going for the rest of the day was the prospect of lessons in swordsmanship when she got home.
"How was school?" Sanosuke asked her when that moment finally arrived. "Was it as bad as you thought it'd be?"
"I'll put it simply, Sano. It sucked worse than babies on a---"
"Please don't finish that sentence," Sanosuke begged. "You'll get me into huge trouble with your mom."
"Fine," said Reiko. All the while, she wouldn't look at Sanosuke. She couldn't let him see her crying. Reiko was sure that no one around her was aware of how weak she really was. She looked perfectly fine after she finished crying. It was DURING her hysterics that it was really obvious.
Sanosuke wasn't to be fooled that easily. "What happened?" he asked her. 'Damn it,' Reiko thought angrily. She decided not to reply and just started off home. Sanosuke grabbed her arm and made her face him. "Reiko, what happened? It must've been bad to make you cry like this. You never cry. Now, tell me."
"Sanosuke..." Reiko began, her voice cracking. This was proof that no one knew how weak she was. 'I never cry. Yeah, right,' she thought. "There was this boy at school. And he called me worthless. What does that mean?"
Choosing not to reply, Sanosuke said, "Why did he call you worthless?"
"He said it was because I was a girl and couldn't write my name," Reiko told him. "And then he said lots of other stupid things to me. Like that I probably can't speak Japanese well because I'm stupid and that his pet dog has a bigger brain than I do. And he wouldn't stop."
"He insulted the fact that you were a girl?!" Sanosuke asked angrily. 'That's what pisses me off the most! Stupid kid, I bet his dad taught him to treat women like that. Chauvinism is contagious if passed on from people you look up to,' he thought.
"But he said meaner things than that," Reiko said. "Sanosuke, are all boys so stupid? I bet any girl is smarter than he is!" She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "And the teacher didn't even say anything."
"What? Why?" Sanosuke asked incredulously. 'This is ridiculous. What kind of school did Kaoru send her to?' He wondered.
"Because I wasn't paying attention at the start of class," she told him. "But you know what? I don't care about school. I don't have to pay attention. I'll just learn whatever I have to at home. I'll just go there so mommy will teach me swordsmanship."
Sanosuke smiled. "You never let anyone put you down, do you?"
"Yes I do," she said quietly. Sanosuke seemed not to have heard.
"Well then, do you want to go home and learn?" he asked her. She nodded fervently.
* * *
But when they got there, it wasn't Kaoru who was waiting for them. It was Yahiko.
"Kaoru's busy teaching her students," he informed them. "So I'll be teaching Reiko."
"Really, uncle Yahiko?" Reiko asked happily. "Great! I wanted to ask you something." It was a very wicked something, so she didn't want her mother to be around when she voiced her question.
"Yeah...but it's going to be hard for you to train in that," he told her, pointing to her kimono.
"Oro?! I have to train naked?" she asked him angrily. "That's wrong, uncle Yahiko! It's very wrong! You're a sick pervert!" Sanosuke desperately tried to stifle his laughter while Yahiko glared at him.
"That's what you get for hanging out with her so much, Yahiko," Sanosuke said, still cracking up. "She knows your ways."
"I didn't mean it like that!" Yahiko screamed defensively. "I meant that you have to wear boys' clothing since they allow for more movement, damn it!"
"Be civil around the girl," Sanosuke warned Yahiko.
"That's okay, Sano," Reiko said, smiling innocently. "I already know words like damn and crap. And you taught them to me."
"'Be civil around the girl,'" Yahiko mimicked. "Look who's talking."
"Yeah, well, I have to go. Have fun," Sanosuke said, looking very vexed. He turned around and stormed off.
"Okay. Do you by any chance have boys' clothing?" Yahiko asked.
"Why would I dress like that?" she asked in return. "I don't get why you all do. Your pants look like a skirt anyway."
Sighing, Yahiko asked, "Do you have any looser kimonos?"
"No."
"Hmm...you can't learn swordsmanship in that. You're going to have to wear my old clothes," said Yahiko.
"They're not stained with sweat, are they?" she asked. "Because I know boys sweat like pigs, since that's what they are."
"What is it with you ratting on boys today, Reiko?" Yahiko said, ticked off. "Did something happen that I don't know about?"
"Nothing important," Reiko said airily. "So are the clothes clean or not?"
"They should be," said Yahiko. "Unless Kaoru used them to wipe up your puke that time you were sick with a stomach virus."
"Ha ha," said Reiko sarcastically. "Blame me for the fact that you don't know how to take a bath."
"Just stay here and don't go anywhere, okay? Don't go wandering off and come back with Tsubame or something," Yahiko ordered, although there was a pleading quality in his voice.
"Well, I had to do it that time. You people were going too slow. So..." she said, smiling wickedly and deciding to voice her evil question, "did you go faster after that?"
Blushing crimson, Yahiko said, "I'll be right back." He returned a few minutes later, clutching a yellow gi and a white hakama. (A/N: I'm not sure if the skirt/pants thing that Kenshin and Yahiko wear is called a hakama. I'm pretty sure, though. If I'm wrong, tell me.) "Put something under the gi, though, because it's open," he told her.
Sighing heavily and wondering if her day could get any worse, Reiko took the garments from him. "Fine," she said, and went off to change.
* * *
There was absolutely no improvement in Reiko's school life. Masashi Ikeda would not leave her alone, no matter how many times she told him to screw off. In fact, he seemed to have gathered himself a few followers. He and his friends never missed a chance to make fun of Reiko. There were two things that kept her going when it came to school: the prospect of swordsmanship (which she was becoming excellent at), and also what few friends she was able to make. One of them, a twelve-year-old girl by the name of Minako, already knew the uncle Sano Reiko often spoke so highly of, although neither of them knew it yet.
"Hey, Reiko, how's swordsmanship going?" Minako greeted her when all the students were having lunch. "Any luck yet?"
"Yeah. I'm doing great," Reiko said proudly. "Better than Yahiko, even. My mom was so proud when I was able to disarm Yahiko that she bought me my own gi and hakama."
"That's nice," said Minako, smoothing out her green and blue kimono as she sat down with Reiko and her friend, Sora. She couldn't really see why her friend was so happy about being presented with men's clothing, but she said nothing. She didn't want to upset Reiko, since she got enough of that from Ikeda.
Sora, who was Reiko's age, decided to pipe up instead. "What's so great about men's clothes, Reiko? My dad would hit me if I wanted to try them on. But your dad lets."
"Dad?" Reiko asked blankly. "Oh! You mean a person who's like a mom, only is a man. I don't have anything like that."
"I'm sorry," Minako said quickly, shooting Sora an angry glance. "Did he die?"
"Nope," said Reiko. "I never had one in the first place." Reiko made a mental note to ask her mother or Sanosuke exactly why she didn't have one.
Laughing, Minako said, "You see, Reiko, that's not possible. If you never had a dad, then you would never exist. In order for babies to be born, you need a man and a woman."
"That's not true!" both Reiko and Sora said.
"Yeah. Babies come from cabbage patches!" said Reiko knowingly. "My uncle Sano knows these things. He has experience."
This statement caused Minako to choke and spit out what she was drinking. Mrs. Inoue, noticing this, glanced at her disapprovingly.
"Sorry, Inoue-sensei," Minako told her, wiping her mouth as daintily as she could, which seemed to satisfy the teacher. Whispering, she asked, "Did he say he has EXPERIENCE?"
"Yeah, he has experience," said Reiko, not bothering to keep her voice down.
"But you said he wasn't married..." Minako said in awe. "And keep quiet. We could get in trouble if Inoue-sensei finds out what we're talking about."
"Well, he's not married. But you don't need to be married to go to a cabbage patch, do you?" Reiko asked.
"Well...you see, babies don't come from cabbage patches," said Minako, and blushed slightly.
"I knew it!" exclaimed Sora. "They come from the mommy after she drinks a magic potion, right?"
"No, that's not it either," Minako said quietly, so quietly that Reiko and Sora had to strain to hear her.
"Oro?!" Reiko said. "You mean Sano lied?"
"Yes," said Minako. "Now, babies actually---"
"Aw, look at the little girls blush!" someone interrupted rudely. The three girls turned to find Masashi eyeing them from across the room, looking smug. "You were talking about me, right?" Reiko didn't bother to reply and started to clean up her things, a habit she'd had since she first started doing chores. It helped clear her mind and also distract her if need be.
"Actually," Minako said, winking at Reiko and Sora, "we WERE talking about you, Masashi." She got up and strode over to him. "May I sit here?" she asked.
Noticing there was no room, Masashi nudged one of his cronies, telling him to move. "Sit right here."
Minako smiled flirtatiously and sat down. "So...you're really smart, Masashi. And you're modest too. I've been admiring you from afar for a while and I must admit, I like what I see."
"Really?" Masashi asked. Judging by his reaction, it was the first time anyone had ever paid him a compliment like that. "What about me do you like?"
"Er." Minako paused. This was proving to be hard. Masashi was as ugly on the outside as he was on the inside. "Your face," she said finally.
"I for one can't tell the difference between his butt and his face, that I can't," Reiko muttered to Sora, causing her to giggle.
Masashi really wasn't stupid. He wouldn't allow himself to be turned into a fool or the source of Reiko Kamiya's amusement. "That oban Kamiya put you up to this, didn't she?" he whispered to make sure Mrs. Inoue didn't hear. Minako drew away from him in shock. She was twelve and she would never DREAM of using language like the word Masashi had just uttered. (A/N: A direct translation of that word would be female dog-like old hag" in Japanese. And by female dog I mean...well...yeah. The more "scientific" way of saying it.) But Masashi didn't care. He knew that this had wounded Reiko far more than any other thing he had told her.
"WHAT did you say, you jerk?" she shouted, standing up and clenching her fists.
Masashi calmly walked over to her, grinning with malice. "Now, now. You really shouldn't talk to your superiors like that...very unbecoming to some idiot who would consider marrying you..." The smile never leaving his face, he slapped Reiko's left cheek with all his might, causing her to stumble back. Reiko stared at him from the ground, too numb to do anything but that.
"Inoue-sensei!" Minako said angrily. "We have a problem here!" Their teacher turned around to see Reiko standing up and clutching her burning cheek, while Masashi smiled at her.
"What kind of problem, Ishimori?" Mrs. Inoue asked. Studying Reiko's cheek and messed up clothing, she added, "Has someone been fighting?"
"Not much of a problem, Inoue-sensei," Masashi said as Minako opened her mouth. "Reiko stumbled and I simply helped her up."
"Mm hmm, so she fell on her cheek, then?" Mrs. Inoue asked.
"That's right," said Reiko, interrupting Minako yet again. Minako stared at Reiko in shock.
Sighing, Mrs. Inoue muttered, "I wish they would get along." She spoke louder now. "Ishimori, you tell me what happened."
"Ikeda slapped Reiko, Inoue-sensei," she piped up. "Reiko probably doesn't want to say anything to make him get angrier."
"Is this true, Kamiya?"
"Not one word of it," Reiko said instantly. "Masashi has decided to be nice to me and helped me up."
"Exactly," Masashi agreed.
"Miyamoto, you tell me what happened," the teacher addressed Sora. Sora looked from her, to Minako, who looked as if she would kill her if she lied, and then to Reiko, whose pleading eyes seemed to settle the uncertainty in her mind.
"What Reiko says is true," lied Sora. "Minako didn't see what happened too well."
A part of her disbelieving, the teacher said, "All right. Finish eating."
"What the hell was that about, Reiko?" Minako asked, shaking with rage and forgetting to be a dainty female. She sat down and started piling all her garbage. "Leave, moron," she added to Masashi.
Masashi shrugged and left, not concerned with anything they would say.
"I didn't want to disturb the peace," said Reiko. "Violence isn't the way to settle anything." Indeed, it was something Reiko completely believed.
"That doesn't make sense, coming from a disciple of a style of swordsmanship," said Minako, still shaking.
" I study swordsmanship because it's fun, not because I ever want to use it," said Reiko. Later on, Reiko would look back at this belief and merely scoff at its naiveté.
"Still...Reiko, he had no right to touch you," Minako said fiercely.
Reiko was silent for a moment. She knew that she needed to do something. Masashi Ikeda's antics needed to end. They were turning her school life into a living hell. In this case, all her lessons in swordsmanship were useless. She doubted whether she could knock some sense into Masashi using a wooden sword. No...to her, this was a matter that needed to be settled in a different way, a way that only one person she knew would be able to teach her.
* * *
Reiko ran into Sanosuke's home and slid the screen to her room shut.
"Reiko, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be home? Kaoru's teaching you swordsmanship today!" Sanosuke said, knocking on her door. When there was no reply, he pressed his ear to the door to listen to what the room's occupant was doing. To his surprise, he heard the faint sound of sobbing. "Reiko?" he asked softly, entering the room.
Sniffling, she screamed, "Leave!"
"You're in my house, you know. I can kick you out, but not the other way around," said Sanosuke. "Now, what's troubling you?"
"Nothing," she lied.
"Do I look stupid to you?"
"Do I have to answer that?" Reiko asked, laughter mingling with her tears. Sanosuke sat down beside her.
"Not if you tell me what's wrong," said Sanosuke, very serious. "Is it that idiot boy again?"
Reiko nodded. "He hasn't stopped bothering me...which is why I came to you."
"You want me to beat the kid up? `Cause if you do, I'd be more than happy too!" said Sanosuke.
"No. If you beat him up, you'll get in trouble. I won't," Reiko replied, cutting to the chase.
"Wait..." Sanosuke said slowly. "Do you mean that YOU want to beat him up?" Reiko nodded. "With what, your bokuto?"
"Once again, that's why I came to you."
"Okay, Reiko, you're speaking in circles. Spit it out," Sanosuke said, his voice filled with the tiniest bit of vexation.
"I want you to teach me your style of fighting. You know, when you punch stuff and it blows up," Reiko said quickly. Sanosuke studied her.
"How do you even know about that?" he asked angrily.
"I've seen you do it. Was that an accident or something?" she asked. 'Because if it was,' she thought, 'then I'm a real idiot.'
"No...it's a punch I learned from a fallen Buddhist monk. It's called the 'futae no kiwami,'" Sanosuke explained. "But it took me a whole week to understand how to do it, and I almost didn't make it. And I was the best fighter in Tokyo, so that's really saying something. Besides, I had the best motivation possible. Reiko, you've never even TRIED punching. I don't think you're cut out for this kind of fighting."
"Really now, Sano?" Reiko asked him, looking venomous. "Then what kind of fighting AM I cut out for? The kind that involves dropping your handkerchief and calling for the big strong man to save you?"
"Reiko...I'm serious. It's very hard. The 'futae no kiwami' isn't something that can be taught. You have to understand it. I can only show you the basics," Sanosuke explained. "That's about it."
"Then teach me the basics."
"Reiko...I really don't know. I don't want to put you through that. It's NOT easy," Sanosuke warned.
"I don't care. I didn't think that it would be easy. I just have to teach that jerk Masashi a lesson...one that will haunt him in his dreams," Reiko said passionately, causing Sanosuke to eye her carefully. 'Yes...just like he haunts mine.' Reiko thought grimly.
"Is this what you really want, Reiko? You really want me to teach you something this hard?" Reiko nodded fervently in reply. Sighing, Sanosuke helped her up. "I'm warning you...I won't tolerate any whining from you. You'll deal with whatever pain this brings you, or you'll back out." He was hoping this would cause her to reconsider, but Reiko only nodded with greater fervor.
"When can we start?" she asked. "I was hoping right now."
"Then fine. But we have to make a schedule. When do you want to learn?"
"Everyday. I don't care if I have to cut school. This kind of learning is more important to me than learning how to properly pour sake," Reiko told him.
"Well...tomorrow's May 1. Since you always stay with either me or Megumi during May, then I can teach you every single day if you like. And I'll let you skip school---occasionally. Okay?" Sanosuke offered.
"Deal," she said, but then she stared at Sanosuke closely. "Can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Why is it that I can't go home in May, ever?" she asked. Sanosuke looked away from her. Oftentimes Reiko had this way of staring that made it seem as if she was penetrating into your soul. It was very unnerving...but more than anything else it reminded Sanosuke somewhat of Kenshin in a battle. And in any event, how was he supposed to tell Reiko that the reason Reiko couldn't stay home during May was because her mother had a type of annual insanity, an insanity that kept her locked in her room, screaming random phrases about how much she hates Kenshin? Reiko didn't even KNOW about Kenshin. And she wouldn't be able to understand her mother's attachment to him. He always knew that there would come a time when she would wonder about that, but he never imagined that he would be the person to explain it to her. Perhaps when she was older, he would be able to. But now was not the time.
"It's because your mom goes to away to China every May," Sanosuke lied, still not looking at Reiko for fear of being discovered. "You know, to teach students."
"But why can't I stay at home with Yahiko?" Reiko asked curiously.
"Because Yahiko's usually busy and he can't really take care of you."
"But you don't take care of me, either. You're usually not home and I end up staying with Fox Lady anyway." At the words "Fox Lady", Sanosuke couldn't help but laugh. She had inherited at least ONE trait from Kaoru: dislike of Megumi. Reiko narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing. Now, let's start training. I want you to punch me in the stomach as hard as you can," Sanosuke ordered. He would've told her to try punching him in the face, but she couldn't exactly reach that high. Another thing she had inherited from Kenshin was height or, rather, severe lack of it.
Reiko hesitated. "Won't that hurt?"
"Just do it!" he snapped.
"All right...don't say I didn't warn you." She punched him in the middle of his stomach with all her might. Sanosuke didn't even stagger.
"Is that the best you can do? You couldn't kill a fly with that punch!" he said incredulously. "Try harder." Reiko, glaring at him fiercely, punched again. "Reiko...I hardly felt that. You can't punch well at all. See, you don't have motivation." (A/N: Meilin all over again, eh, Evil Authoress?)
Reiko paused. She concentrated on Masashi's ugly face and how she would like nothing more to pummel it into the ground. She concentrated on every single rude comment he had ever opened his mouth to say. And she concentrated on the burning feeling that his slap had left behind. Taking a deep breath, she wound up, and punched Sanosuke again.
"That was good, Reiko!" he said, his eyes wide with shock. "I didn't expect you to punch that hard until at least a week of training!"
"Let's just say I had some help," Reiko said darkly.
"Okay. Now that I know what you're capable of, I'll go find more suitable objects for you to beat up."
As she watched Sanosuke leave, Reiko felt astonishingly pleased with herself. She knew, now, that Masashi would pay for what he had done. And he would pay very dearly.
* * *
~April 1888~
"NO! STOP IT! STOP IT, PLEASE!" Reiko woke up from a dream she could barely remember, screaming those words.
"Reiko, what happened?" Kaoru asked frantically, rushing into Reiko's room with her wooden sword clenched in her hand. She glanced around the room quickly, looking for someone who could've been the cause of Reiko's screaming. When she saw there was no one there besides her daughter, she calmed down and asked, "What happened?"
Reiko looked at Kaoru then sat up, hugging her knees. "Blood."
"What?" Kaoru asked, looking confused. "'Blood'?" Reiko nodded.
"A lot of it. Everywhere. Just...I don't know...blood. It's all I can remember," Reiko said, shaking. Kaoru sat down beside her and hugged her.
"You had a nightmare, didn't you?" she asked consolingly. Reiko stared up at her.
"It wasn't a dream. It was too real. Besides, I could FEEL the pain, mom," Reiko said. She shuddered. "But I can't remember ME getting hurt in the dream. I can't remember anything, really. Just blood."
"Reiko, dreams are often very real. But you're not bleeding, and there's no blood in this room. So it never really happened," Kaoru told Reiko, patting her on the back. "And anyway, there's no one here."
Reiko shook her head. "But there WAS blood, mommy. I don't care if it was a dream. There was a lot of it. And...I'm scared." She burst out crying. Kaoru didn't really know what to do. It was the first time Reiko had ever had a nightmare that horrible. 'Something about this really bothers me. Whenever Kenshin had dreams about his past, they usually ended up meaning something. Hers have never meant anything...but this dream...it absolutely terrifies her. Could it be that the fact that she's been holding her sword in a battle intended way has somehow triggered something in her mind? I never taught her swordsmanship before for fear of how it would affect her...this is just the kind of thing I was afraid of.' Kaoru thought.
It took a while for Reiko to go back to sleep, and she wouldn't let Kaoru leave her side until she did. But the following morning, Reiko behaved as if she never had the dream at all.
"So...do I get taught today?" she asked happily during breakfast as Sanosuke grumbled about how cranky women were in the morning.
"We'll---oh honestly, Sanosuke, shut up---we'll see, Reiko," said Kaoru. She wasn't entirely sure whether the whole thing was a good idea.
"Hey! That's not fair! You promised, mommy! If I don't get taught swordsmanship, then I'm not going to school," Reiko threatened.
Kaoru sighed. "I want you to stay home from school today anyway, Reiko. Is that okay with you?"
"Are you kidding me? Of course it's okay! We were going to practice songs today, and now I don't have to!" Reiko said gleefully.
"Why is that, Kaoru?" Sanosuke asked, looking very pissed off indeed. "I don't appreciate getting up early in the morning, dragging my butt here, waiting for Reiko as she takes forever to get dressed, then walking her to school, and after that walking back."
"Sorry Sano," Reiko said apologetically. "But as my mommy says, my hair is difficult to manage."
"And anyway, can't you get Megumi to take her to school? Unlike her, I have a life!" Sanosuke complained to Kaoru.
"Reiko, make yourself useful and go wake Yahiko. Tell him that there's not going to be any breakfast left unless he hurries up and gets here," Kaoru told Reiko.
"He shouldn't get any food. I made it," Reiko mumbled, but did as Kaoru asked and left the room.
"Sanosuke," Kaoru began as soon as Reiko was gone. "She had a really horrible nightmare last night."
"So?"
"You know how Kenshin's nightmares always meant something, and that something was never a good thing. I'm worried for her safety. So I'm going to ask you to watch her for today, Sano," said Kaoru.
"Kaoru, you're being paranoid," Sanosuke said airily. "Besides, Reiko knows how to take care of herself.
"Oh, really?" Kaoru asked, raising her eyebrows. "Reiko just turned eight about a month ago and you mean to tell me that she can take care of herself? Exactly what am I missing out on, Sanosuke?"
"Well...you see..." Sanosuke began hesitantly, "I've sort of...well...I've been teaching her the 'futae no kiwami' for the past year or so. She's pretty good, although she can only disintegrate small objects like cups, albeit not too well."
"SANOSUKE!" Kaoru screamed, livid with rage. "You should've asked me before teaching her a technique like that! SHE'S WAY TOO YOUNG, SANOSUKE! I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT KIND OF DAMAGE THAT'LL DO TO HER MIND!"
"When exactly was I supposed to tell you this, Kaoru? While you were lying in bed for a month, crying and wishing for the ground to open up and swallow you whole? Or when you were throwing things at the door, screaming for your beloved rurouni? Or maybe I should've told you when you threw knives at a dartboard, pretending it was Kenshin's head! Yeah, then maybe I would've ended up with a dart protruding from my forehead! That's real smart!" Sanosuke screamed, equally as enraged if not more.
At that moment, Reiko dragged a groggy Yahiko into the room, who sat down and screamed, "Where's my food?! I want my food!" Then he fell face- first into his bowl of rice.
"He's eager..." Reiko muttered, sitting down beside him. "What did I miss?" she asked when she saw the looks on Sanosuke's and Kaoru's faces.
"Nothing," they said immediately, and refused to look at each other for the rest of the meal.
"Whew," Megumi said, entering the kitchen. "I am exhausted. I was up all night."
"Hello, auntie Megumi," said Reiko, and proceeded eating her food. Normally, she would hug someone who was close to her but Megumi was the only exception. She didn't really like Megumi. Megumi was an example of the "perfect woman", a woman who knew how to pour sake right, tie an obi perfectly, and never crease her kimono when sitting down. Something about this perfection bothered Reiko. It seemed that Megumi was, in a way, better than she was at being a woman. Sighing, Reiko shook her head. She hardly understood what it meant to be a woman, and something told her that pouring sake correctly was not all there was to it. And yet...Reiko shook her head again.
"What's up with them?" Megumi asked Reiko quietly, indicating Sanosuke and Kaoru. "Did they have an argument?"
"I have no idea," Reiko answered. "I came in with uncle Yahiko and they were just sitting there, not looking at each other. Uncle Yahiko, I think you should get your face out of the bowl now," she added to Yahiko, who grunted and didn't budge.
"He'll be like that for a while," Megumi said. "What's going on, you two?"
"Nothing," Kaoru and Sanosuke repeated, still not looking at one another.
"I think they got into a fight..." Reiko said. "But I'm done with breakfast and I'm bored. Oh yeah!" She gave Megumi a bowl of rice. "I made it, not mommy, so it's not poison."
"Thanks," Megumi said. Sanosuke rose to his feet.
"Come on Reiko," he said, taking her arm and dragging her to her feet. "Let's go."
Kaoru rose as well, and stopped Sanosuke as soon as Reiko was out the door without him. "About the topic of our argument, don't mention it to her."
"You think I'm stupid, don't you?" he asked.
"No, I don't. And remember to watch her like a hawk."
* * *
"Okay, this is my friend's daughter, Reiko, and she'll be joining us today," Sanosuke said as Reiko went to get herself comfortable in front of the gambling table. "She's only seven so remember to be civil around her. Which means no sick jokes and no curse words." His friends nodded their heads.
"Okay, bastards!" Reiko said, rolling up her sleeves. "Bring it on!"
One of Sanosuke's friends raised his eyebrows. "You were worried about US being uncivil?" he asked incredulously.
Laughing nervously, Sanosuke said, "She's been hanging out with me for a while...I guess she sort of picked that up."
"Hey, whose kid is she? She looks a lot like Kenshin...is she his kid?" another of his friends asked.
"Yeah, and since Kenshin had to...er...leave, I would really like it if you didn't mention him to her. She doesn't know about him," Sanosuke informed them. They nodded again, and went to join Reiko along with Sanosuke.
After Reiko had guessed wrong about fifteen times, she realized that what she was doing was extremely boring. What was even more shocking was that she actually felt she would rather be at school. After all, she hadn't seen Masashi since she had fully learned the "futae no kiwami" and she was eager to show him what she'd been up to for the past two years. She sighed.
"Sano? Can I go outside to get a drink of water?" she asked him.
Sanosuke looked up and stared at her for a moment, as if shocked to see that she was there. "What? Oh, sure." He immediately directed his attention back to the dice.
Reiko wandered outside. She didn't really want a drink of water, but she simply needed to get away from the stuffy room filled with men who told jokes she didn't understand. 'What's even more unfair is that they drink sake, but won't let me! Those old jackasses probably think I'd faint or something.' She thought, and then smiled. 'It's funny. A while ago I would've felt guilty or something if I used a word like "jackass". But now, I don't really care. Who cares if I'm not dainty? I like being a fighter.' She looked at her wooden sword, which she had strapped to her waist even though she was wearing a kimono. She didn't normally bring it with her when she went somewhere, but something told Reiko to drag it along this time, just in case.
Unfortunately, Reiko's instincts proved to be correct. While she was distracted, someone had snuck up behind her. The last thing Reiko felt before slipping away into complete darkness was that of a very heavy object being brought down upon her head.
* * *
Reiko woke up a little while later, no longer in the garden of Sanosuke's friend. She was at a place she had never before visited in her life: the docks. But her location wasn't of any importance to her. Reiko concentrated more on the very sharp and very non-wooden-like sword that was pressed to her neck, and the blood that was trickling down it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yay! Another chapter is complete. I tried to make this chapter as short as possible but I really couldn't help it. I. Write. A. Lot. ^^ It's just something I do. I really hope no one minds...
Next Chapter: You find out who's actually pressing the sword to Reiko's neck! And Reiko finally gets her revenge on Masashi...MWAHAHAHAHA! I will enjoy writing that part, that I will. I know someone should never actually HATE their own character...but I don't like Masashi. Oh well. I also might add a few old characters in it. If not in the next chapter, then in the chapter after it.
For reviewers: You get to throw darts at Shishio-sama! YAY! I'm just kidding, although if you hate him do whatever you want in my fic. And for reviewers who like Shishio...you can protect him with magical shielding powers! Or...something. I just watched a new episode of RK on Cartoon Network and I'm really hyper! So ja ne and r & r!
Well, I'm back with a new chapter. I'm skipping the long author's note for this chapter since they seem pretty much pointless, so I'll go straight to the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: For the fourth time in this fic, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin and anything associated with it. This idea, however, is solely my property and I also own Reiko. YAY! I'm not possessionless! (Is that even a word?)
~Six years later~
"Reiko, get up! Sano's taking you to school!" came Kaoru's voice. Reiko groggily turned away from her, pulling the covers over her head. "Now, Reiko. You don't want to miss your first day." Kaoru's voice was kind, but stern.
"But what's the point, mommy?" Reiko asked, finally giving in. "I already know how to cook, clean, sew, and make babies. I also know how to do laundry, and I even like to. What's the point of school?"
"I'm well aware that you would be the perfect housewife if I were to have you married right now, but in school you'll also learn how to read and write. Do you know how to do that, then, my perfect child?" Kaoru questioned.
"Of course I do! Sano taught me how to read and write!" Reiko retorted. Kaoru eyed her daughter suspiciously.
"Just what exactly did Sano teach you to write?" she asked.
"Bad!"
"Excuse me?"
"He taught me how to write and read the word 'bad'," said Reiko.
"Mm hmm, and just what else did Sano teach you? What's this about making babies?" Kaoru asked, praying that the answer she would get would not be the one she was expecting. 'And if it is,' she thought, 'I'll kill Sanosuke.'
"You know, how to feed them, clean up their poop, and diaper them. Also that they come from cabbage patches," Reiko replied airily. "So I don't have to go to school," she added hopefully.
"Yes you do," Kaoru informed her. "That's not all there is to life, Reiko-chan."
"Mommy! They'll make me sing! They always make girls sing at school!" Reiko whined. "And you know I can't sing...why can't I just stay with you? Yahiko never goes to school!"
"That doesn't matter. I still want you to go to school. And later you'll thank me for it," Kaoru said.
"I hate it when you say that," Reiko mumbled.
Sanosuke stuck his head into the room. "Are you ready yet?"
"You're taking me to school, Sano?" Reiko asked.
"I told you he was," Kaoru said to Reiko.
"Well...I must not have heard you." She got out of bed and ran over to Sanosuke, hugging his leg tightly. "Yay! Uncle Sano's taking me to school!"
"Yeah, but I've got lots of things to do today so you better hurry up or I'll drag you there by your ankles," Sanosuke warned. Kaoru rolled her eyes and Reiko shouted, "No you won't! I'll bash you on the head with my bokuto first!"
"I'd like to see you try, Jou-chan," Sanosuke said.
"Fine! I will!" She jumped up and ran over to the part of her room where she kept her wooden sword. Picking it up, she wondered, 'Why can't I just stay home and learn swordsmanship? Then I wouldn't have to bash Sano on the head. I could actually use the Kamiya Kasshin ryuu.' (A/N: I'm not sure if I said it before or not, but ryuu means "style.") She sighed heavily.
"What happened, Reiko? You changed your mind?" Sanosuke asked. She sighed again.
"I don't feel right about bashing you on the head. I'm sure that's not a part of the Kamiya Kasshin ryuu, and I don't want to act like a baby anyway," she replied, studying her sword. It was her most prized possession, yet she had never actually used it. It looked brand new.
"Okay, Reiko. We'll make a deal. If you go to school, then I'll teach you the Kamiya Kasshin ryuu when you have free time. Okay?" Kaoru offered. Reiko suddenly brightened.
"Okay!"
"Good, Reiko. Now, Sanosuke, you go get your meal that I know you'll never pay me back for, and Reiko, you get dressed," Kaoru ordered. Sanosuke didn't bother replying, but the words "It's too early in the morning for this," were decipherable as he left the room. Reiko, however, wasn't as easy to command.
"You're not lying, are you?" she asked Kaoru. "You WILL teach me the Kamiya Kasshin ryuu?"
"Have I ever lied to you?"
"Probably," said Reiko, smiling. "I'm not as stupid as you think I am, now am I?"
Kaoru smiled back. "Yes you are. You're being suspicious for no reason."
"No I'm not!" Reiko cried, insulted.
"Just get dressed. I'm actually going to let you wear whatever you like, so make it quick and don't spend an hour deciding," Kaoru told her. "Call me when you're done so I can brush your hair."
"I can brush my own hair, thank you very much!" said Reiko indignantly. Smiling, Kaoru tousled her daughter's hair.
"Just don't give the teachers this much of a hard time," she told her. "And besides, you know your hair is impossible to manage."
"Oh fine," Reiko said as she heard her mother close the door behind her. 'It was kind of stupid for her to tell me not to take a long time. It's not like I have that many clothes to choose from.' She thought. After she stared at every kimono she owned, Reiko finally chose a lavender one with a navy obi. Looking in the mirror, she realized it went nicely with her eye color. Now if she could only do something to make her thick, puffy black hair stay down...
Sighing and realizing that her mother had a point when it came to her hair, Reiko called, "Mommy! I finished!"
"Not bad..." Kaoru noted when she saw her. "Although your obi's not tied too well."
"These things are hard to tie, mommy!" Reiko complained. "You've got to be really good at weaving or something!"
"It's okay. You actually tied it better than I did when I was your age. So go stand in front of the mirror so I can fix your hair," Kaoru said, laughing. Reiko did as she was bid, although with much complaint, and Kaoru tried taming Reiko's hair. 'She's so much like him. She looks like him, acts like him, heck, she almost is him. Even if she does have my hair color, it's exactly like Kenshin's. I'm surprised she doesn't ask me to tie it in a low ponytail like his.' Kaoru thought with a bemused smile on her face. 'Thank god she's never asked about him.I don't know what I'd say.'
Noticing the brush had been stationary for quite a while, Reiko asked in a concerned voice, "Mommy, are you okay?"
Shaking her head, Kaoru replied, "Yeah, I'm fine." She resumed brushing her hair. 'I have to stop thinking about him. It only brings me pain. Besides, I haven't heard from Kenshin in years. He probably doesn't think about me at all.' She finished and tied Reiko's hair with her own indigo ribbon. 'It should be hers. It has Kenshin's blood on it, after all, even if it's not visible. And Kenshin's blood is basically hers.' (A/N: Does anyone know what ribbon I'm talking about? It was the one Kaoru gave to Kenshin right before she was kidnapped by Udou Jinei, or however the hell you spell the guy's name. When he gave it back to her, it was stained with blood. Someone MUST know what I'm talking about!)
Reiko was no stranger to the fact that she would normally not be allowed to touch her mother's favorite ribbon, let alone wear it. "Mommy, are you sure I can wear your ribbon?" she asked cautiously to prevent being blamed for it later on. For some reason, she pictured her mother chasing her around and screaming at her in the event that something happened to it.
"Of course it's okay. It's yours now, Reiko. Now off to school."
"But mommy," Reiko whined, "my hair is still puffy! Can't you make it stay down?"
"Reiko, you know I've tried. It's not my fault your hair does that," Kaoru said.
"Then whose fault is it?" Reiko asked. When Kaoru was silent, she said, "See, it is your fault!"
"Are you done yet? I have stuff to do!" Sanosuke said, poking his head into the room again.
Relief swept through Kaoru as she said, "Off to school, Reiko."
* * *
"All right class," Reiko's teacher said loudly. "We're going to have our first lesson."
"Oh, please, Inoue-sensei," a boy named Masashi called loudly. "Like we really need to learn how to write our name. Everyone should know that by the time they're two. If they don't know when they go to school then they're stupid." His declaration would've normally made Reiko get very upset, but she wasn't paying attention to anything going on inside the classroom. In fact, she hadn't heard a single word the teacher had said since she entered it. Reiko just stared longingly out the window, wondering when it would be time for her to go home.
"Fine then," Mrs. Inoue said. "If you're all as smart as...what's your name?"
"Masashi Ikeda," he told her lazily.
"Well, if you're all as smart as him then you can write your name on your own. Anyone who's never learned how, I'll be walking around and helping you." Reiko didn't hear any of this, either. She put her head down on her crossed arms and continued staring out the window.
Eventually, though, Mrs. Inoue came up to her. "Well? Why is your paper blank?" she demanded.
For the first time upon entering the room, Reiko acknowledged her teacher's existence. "Oro?" she asked.
"Your paper. It's blank. When I asked who didn't know how to write their name, you didn't say anything. Do you?" Mrs. Inoue asked her.
Reiko, only half-listening to her teacher's question, picked up her paper and scribbled the character for "bad" on it. "Happy?" she asked.
Mrs. Inoue stared at her, a mix of puzzlement, astonishment, and amusement on her face. "What's your name, child?" she asked Reiko.
"Reiko Kamiya," Reiko replied, finally giving her teacher her full and undivided attention. "Why?"
"Well, here you have written the kanji for 'bad'," she told Reiko.
"So?"
"We were writing our names, Kamiya," Mrs. Inoue replied coldly. "Your name is not 'bad', is it?"
"Whoops," said Reiko carelessly.
"What an idiot," Masashi remarked, not bothering to keep his voice down.
"What did you say?" Reiko asked him, glaring as hard as she could.
"Well, you're an idiot. And a girl. In other words, you're absolutely worthless in this world," he said. Reiko jumped up.
"Baka!" she screamed at him. "Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? You're not my mom!"
"I'm well aware of that," he said calmly. Reiko opened her mouth to say something, but when no genius comeback came to her she shut it.
"Ikeda, how old are you?" the teacher asked.
"Ten," Masashi replied, not taking his eyes off Reiko.
"Well, that explains it. No wonder you could write your name when no one else in the class could. And no wonder you use words like that, too," Mrs. Inoue said.
"So that's it?" Reiko asked her. "You're not going to tell him off? It's okay that he just said that?" The teacher shrugged. Reiko felt her eyes brimming with tears, but she held them back. There was no way she would give in and cry, not for these two morons.
"Maybe I'll stand up for you when you show some more respect and pay attention," Mrs. Inoue told her, not bothering to disguise the indifference in her voice.
The rest of the day passed by no better. Masashi never missed a chance to shoot Reiko a smug look from across the room or to make some snide remark when the teacher was no where near. Reiko could do nothing but turn away. She'd never been a strong person. Whenever she was feeling down, she always found refuge in her room with the doors shut and her tears free. But now, she couldn't run off home. She had to bear everything until the moment she was released from this prison. The one thing that kept her going for the rest of the day was the prospect of lessons in swordsmanship when she got home.
"How was school?" Sanosuke asked her when that moment finally arrived. "Was it as bad as you thought it'd be?"
"I'll put it simply, Sano. It sucked worse than babies on a---"
"Please don't finish that sentence," Sanosuke begged. "You'll get me into huge trouble with your mom."
"Fine," said Reiko. All the while, she wouldn't look at Sanosuke. She couldn't let him see her crying. Reiko was sure that no one around her was aware of how weak she really was. She looked perfectly fine after she finished crying. It was DURING her hysterics that it was really obvious.
Sanosuke wasn't to be fooled that easily. "What happened?" he asked her. 'Damn it,' Reiko thought angrily. She decided not to reply and just started off home. Sanosuke grabbed her arm and made her face him. "Reiko, what happened? It must've been bad to make you cry like this. You never cry. Now, tell me."
"Sanosuke..." Reiko began, her voice cracking. This was proof that no one knew how weak she was. 'I never cry. Yeah, right,' she thought. "There was this boy at school. And he called me worthless. What does that mean?"
Choosing not to reply, Sanosuke said, "Why did he call you worthless?"
"He said it was because I was a girl and couldn't write my name," Reiko told him. "And then he said lots of other stupid things to me. Like that I probably can't speak Japanese well because I'm stupid and that his pet dog has a bigger brain than I do. And he wouldn't stop."
"He insulted the fact that you were a girl?!" Sanosuke asked angrily. 'That's what pisses me off the most! Stupid kid, I bet his dad taught him to treat women like that. Chauvinism is contagious if passed on from people you look up to,' he thought.
"But he said meaner things than that," Reiko said. "Sanosuke, are all boys so stupid? I bet any girl is smarter than he is!" She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "And the teacher didn't even say anything."
"What? Why?" Sanosuke asked incredulously. 'This is ridiculous. What kind of school did Kaoru send her to?' He wondered.
"Because I wasn't paying attention at the start of class," she told him. "But you know what? I don't care about school. I don't have to pay attention. I'll just learn whatever I have to at home. I'll just go there so mommy will teach me swordsmanship."
Sanosuke smiled. "You never let anyone put you down, do you?"
"Yes I do," she said quietly. Sanosuke seemed not to have heard.
"Well then, do you want to go home and learn?" he asked her. She nodded fervently.
* * *
But when they got there, it wasn't Kaoru who was waiting for them. It was Yahiko.
"Kaoru's busy teaching her students," he informed them. "So I'll be teaching Reiko."
"Really, uncle Yahiko?" Reiko asked happily. "Great! I wanted to ask you something." It was a very wicked something, so she didn't want her mother to be around when she voiced her question.
"Yeah...but it's going to be hard for you to train in that," he told her, pointing to her kimono.
"Oro?! I have to train naked?" she asked him angrily. "That's wrong, uncle Yahiko! It's very wrong! You're a sick pervert!" Sanosuke desperately tried to stifle his laughter while Yahiko glared at him.
"That's what you get for hanging out with her so much, Yahiko," Sanosuke said, still cracking up. "She knows your ways."
"I didn't mean it like that!" Yahiko screamed defensively. "I meant that you have to wear boys' clothing since they allow for more movement, damn it!"
"Be civil around the girl," Sanosuke warned Yahiko.
"That's okay, Sano," Reiko said, smiling innocently. "I already know words like damn and crap. And you taught them to me."
"'Be civil around the girl,'" Yahiko mimicked. "Look who's talking."
"Yeah, well, I have to go. Have fun," Sanosuke said, looking very vexed. He turned around and stormed off.
"Okay. Do you by any chance have boys' clothing?" Yahiko asked.
"Why would I dress like that?" she asked in return. "I don't get why you all do. Your pants look like a skirt anyway."
Sighing, Yahiko asked, "Do you have any looser kimonos?"
"No."
"Hmm...you can't learn swordsmanship in that. You're going to have to wear my old clothes," said Yahiko.
"They're not stained with sweat, are they?" she asked. "Because I know boys sweat like pigs, since that's what they are."
"What is it with you ratting on boys today, Reiko?" Yahiko said, ticked off. "Did something happen that I don't know about?"
"Nothing important," Reiko said airily. "So are the clothes clean or not?"
"They should be," said Yahiko. "Unless Kaoru used them to wipe up your puke that time you were sick with a stomach virus."
"Ha ha," said Reiko sarcastically. "Blame me for the fact that you don't know how to take a bath."
"Just stay here and don't go anywhere, okay? Don't go wandering off and come back with Tsubame or something," Yahiko ordered, although there was a pleading quality in his voice.
"Well, I had to do it that time. You people were going too slow. So..." she said, smiling wickedly and deciding to voice her evil question, "did you go faster after that?"
Blushing crimson, Yahiko said, "I'll be right back." He returned a few minutes later, clutching a yellow gi and a white hakama. (A/N: I'm not sure if the skirt/pants thing that Kenshin and Yahiko wear is called a hakama. I'm pretty sure, though. If I'm wrong, tell me.) "Put something under the gi, though, because it's open," he told her.
Sighing heavily and wondering if her day could get any worse, Reiko took the garments from him. "Fine," she said, and went off to change.
* * *
There was absolutely no improvement in Reiko's school life. Masashi Ikeda would not leave her alone, no matter how many times she told him to screw off. In fact, he seemed to have gathered himself a few followers. He and his friends never missed a chance to make fun of Reiko. There were two things that kept her going when it came to school: the prospect of swordsmanship (which she was becoming excellent at), and also what few friends she was able to make. One of them, a twelve-year-old girl by the name of Minako, already knew the uncle Sano Reiko often spoke so highly of, although neither of them knew it yet.
"Hey, Reiko, how's swordsmanship going?" Minako greeted her when all the students were having lunch. "Any luck yet?"
"Yeah. I'm doing great," Reiko said proudly. "Better than Yahiko, even. My mom was so proud when I was able to disarm Yahiko that she bought me my own gi and hakama."
"That's nice," said Minako, smoothing out her green and blue kimono as she sat down with Reiko and her friend, Sora. She couldn't really see why her friend was so happy about being presented with men's clothing, but she said nothing. She didn't want to upset Reiko, since she got enough of that from Ikeda.
Sora, who was Reiko's age, decided to pipe up instead. "What's so great about men's clothes, Reiko? My dad would hit me if I wanted to try them on. But your dad lets."
"Dad?" Reiko asked blankly. "Oh! You mean a person who's like a mom, only is a man. I don't have anything like that."
"I'm sorry," Minako said quickly, shooting Sora an angry glance. "Did he die?"
"Nope," said Reiko. "I never had one in the first place." Reiko made a mental note to ask her mother or Sanosuke exactly why she didn't have one.
Laughing, Minako said, "You see, Reiko, that's not possible. If you never had a dad, then you would never exist. In order for babies to be born, you need a man and a woman."
"That's not true!" both Reiko and Sora said.
"Yeah. Babies come from cabbage patches!" said Reiko knowingly. "My uncle Sano knows these things. He has experience."
This statement caused Minako to choke and spit out what she was drinking. Mrs. Inoue, noticing this, glanced at her disapprovingly.
"Sorry, Inoue-sensei," Minako told her, wiping her mouth as daintily as she could, which seemed to satisfy the teacher. Whispering, she asked, "Did he say he has EXPERIENCE?"
"Yeah, he has experience," said Reiko, not bothering to keep her voice down.
"But you said he wasn't married..." Minako said in awe. "And keep quiet. We could get in trouble if Inoue-sensei finds out what we're talking about."
"Well, he's not married. But you don't need to be married to go to a cabbage patch, do you?" Reiko asked.
"Well...you see, babies don't come from cabbage patches," said Minako, and blushed slightly.
"I knew it!" exclaimed Sora. "They come from the mommy after she drinks a magic potion, right?"
"No, that's not it either," Minako said quietly, so quietly that Reiko and Sora had to strain to hear her.
"Oro?!" Reiko said. "You mean Sano lied?"
"Yes," said Minako. "Now, babies actually---"
"Aw, look at the little girls blush!" someone interrupted rudely. The three girls turned to find Masashi eyeing them from across the room, looking smug. "You were talking about me, right?" Reiko didn't bother to reply and started to clean up her things, a habit she'd had since she first started doing chores. It helped clear her mind and also distract her if need be.
"Actually," Minako said, winking at Reiko and Sora, "we WERE talking about you, Masashi." She got up and strode over to him. "May I sit here?" she asked.
Noticing there was no room, Masashi nudged one of his cronies, telling him to move. "Sit right here."
Minako smiled flirtatiously and sat down. "So...you're really smart, Masashi. And you're modest too. I've been admiring you from afar for a while and I must admit, I like what I see."
"Really?" Masashi asked. Judging by his reaction, it was the first time anyone had ever paid him a compliment like that. "What about me do you like?"
"Er." Minako paused. This was proving to be hard. Masashi was as ugly on the outside as he was on the inside. "Your face," she said finally.
"I for one can't tell the difference between his butt and his face, that I can't," Reiko muttered to Sora, causing her to giggle.
Masashi really wasn't stupid. He wouldn't allow himself to be turned into a fool or the source of Reiko Kamiya's amusement. "That oban Kamiya put you up to this, didn't she?" he whispered to make sure Mrs. Inoue didn't hear. Minako drew away from him in shock. She was twelve and she would never DREAM of using language like the word Masashi had just uttered. (A/N: A direct translation of that word would be female dog-like old hag" in Japanese. And by female dog I mean...well...yeah. The more "scientific" way of saying it.) But Masashi didn't care. He knew that this had wounded Reiko far more than any other thing he had told her.
"WHAT did you say, you jerk?" she shouted, standing up and clenching her fists.
Masashi calmly walked over to her, grinning with malice. "Now, now. You really shouldn't talk to your superiors like that...very unbecoming to some idiot who would consider marrying you..." The smile never leaving his face, he slapped Reiko's left cheek with all his might, causing her to stumble back. Reiko stared at him from the ground, too numb to do anything but that.
"Inoue-sensei!" Minako said angrily. "We have a problem here!" Their teacher turned around to see Reiko standing up and clutching her burning cheek, while Masashi smiled at her.
"What kind of problem, Ishimori?" Mrs. Inoue asked. Studying Reiko's cheek and messed up clothing, she added, "Has someone been fighting?"
"Not much of a problem, Inoue-sensei," Masashi said as Minako opened her mouth. "Reiko stumbled and I simply helped her up."
"Mm hmm, so she fell on her cheek, then?" Mrs. Inoue asked.
"That's right," said Reiko, interrupting Minako yet again. Minako stared at Reiko in shock.
Sighing, Mrs. Inoue muttered, "I wish they would get along." She spoke louder now. "Ishimori, you tell me what happened."
"Ikeda slapped Reiko, Inoue-sensei," she piped up. "Reiko probably doesn't want to say anything to make him get angrier."
"Is this true, Kamiya?"
"Not one word of it," Reiko said instantly. "Masashi has decided to be nice to me and helped me up."
"Exactly," Masashi agreed.
"Miyamoto, you tell me what happened," the teacher addressed Sora. Sora looked from her, to Minako, who looked as if she would kill her if she lied, and then to Reiko, whose pleading eyes seemed to settle the uncertainty in her mind.
"What Reiko says is true," lied Sora. "Minako didn't see what happened too well."
A part of her disbelieving, the teacher said, "All right. Finish eating."
"What the hell was that about, Reiko?" Minako asked, shaking with rage and forgetting to be a dainty female. She sat down and started piling all her garbage. "Leave, moron," she added to Masashi.
Masashi shrugged and left, not concerned with anything they would say.
"I didn't want to disturb the peace," said Reiko. "Violence isn't the way to settle anything." Indeed, it was something Reiko completely believed.
"That doesn't make sense, coming from a disciple of a style of swordsmanship," said Minako, still shaking.
" I study swordsmanship because it's fun, not because I ever want to use it," said Reiko. Later on, Reiko would look back at this belief and merely scoff at its naiveté.
"Still...Reiko, he had no right to touch you," Minako said fiercely.
Reiko was silent for a moment. She knew that she needed to do something. Masashi Ikeda's antics needed to end. They were turning her school life into a living hell. In this case, all her lessons in swordsmanship were useless. She doubted whether she could knock some sense into Masashi using a wooden sword. No...to her, this was a matter that needed to be settled in a different way, a way that only one person she knew would be able to teach her.
* * *
Reiko ran into Sanosuke's home and slid the screen to her room shut.
"Reiko, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be home? Kaoru's teaching you swordsmanship today!" Sanosuke said, knocking on her door. When there was no reply, he pressed his ear to the door to listen to what the room's occupant was doing. To his surprise, he heard the faint sound of sobbing. "Reiko?" he asked softly, entering the room.
Sniffling, she screamed, "Leave!"
"You're in my house, you know. I can kick you out, but not the other way around," said Sanosuke. "Now, what's troubling you?"
"Nothing," she lied.
"Do I look stupid to you?"
"Do I have to answer that?" Reiko asked, laughter mingling with her tears. Sanosuke sat down beside her.
"Not if you tell me what's wrong," said Sanosuke, very serious. "Is it that idiot boy again?"
Reiko nodded. "He hasn't stopped bothering me...which is why I came to you."
"You want me to beat the kid up? `Cause if you do, I'd be more than happy too!" said Sanosuke.
"No. If you beat him up, you'll get in trouble. I won't," Reiko replied, cutting to the chase.
"Wait..." Sanosuke said slowly. "Do you mean that YOU want to beat him up?" Reiko nodded. "With what, your bokuto?"
"Once again, that's why I came to you."
"Okay, Reiko, you're speaking in circles. Spit it out," Sanosuke said, his voice filled with the tiniest bit of vexation.
"I want you to teach me your style of fighting. You know, when you punch stuff and it blows up," Reiko said quickly. Sanosuke studied her.
"How do you even know about that?" he asked angrily.
"I've seen you do it. Was that an accident or something?" she asked. 'Because if it was,' she thought, 'then I'm a real idiot.'
"No...it's a punch I learned from a fallen Buddhist monk. It's called the 'futae no kiwami,'" Sanosuke explained. "But it took me a whole week to understand how to do it, and I almost didn't make it. And I was the best fighter in Tokyo, so that's really saying something. Besides, I had the best motivation possible. Reiko, you've never even TRIED punching. I don't think you're cut out for this kind of fighting."
"Really now, Sano?" Reiko asked him, looking venomous. "Then what kind of fighting AM I cut out for? The kind that involves dropping your handkerchief and calling for the big strong man to save you?"
"Reiko...I'm serious. It's very hard. The 'futae no kiwami' isn't something that can be taught. You have to understand it. I can only show you the basics," Sanosuke explained. "That's about it."
"Then teach me the basics."
"Reiko...I really don't know. I don't want to put you through that. It's NOT easy," Sanosuke warned.
"I don't care. I didn't think that it would be easy. I just have to teach that jerk Masashi a lesson...one that will haunt him in his dreams," Reiko said passionately, causing Sanosuke to eye her carefully. 'Yes...just like he haunts mine.' Reiko thought grimly.
"Is this what you really want, Reiko? You really want me to teach you something this hard?" Reiko nodded fervently in reply. Sighing, Sanosuke helped her up. "I'm warning you...I won't tolerate any whining from you. You'll deal with whatever pain this brings you, or you'll back out." He was hoping this would cause her to reconsider, but Reiko only nodded with greater fervor.
"When can we start?" she asked. "I was hoping right now."
"Then fine. But we have to make a schedule. When do you want to learn?"
"Everyday. I don't care if I have to cut school. This kind of learning is more important to me than learning how to properly pour sake," Reiko told him.
"Well...tomorrow's May 1. Since you always stay with either me or Megumi during May, then I can teach you every single day if you like. And I'll let you skip school---occasionally. Okay?" Sanosuke offered.
"Deal," she said, but then she stared at Sanosuke closely. "Can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Why is it that I can't go home in May, ever?" she asked. Sanosuke looked away from her. Oftentimes Reiko had this way of staring that made it seem as if she was penetrating into your soul. It was very unnerving...but more than anything else it reminded Sanosuke somewhat of Kenshin in a battle. And in any event, how was he supposed to tell Reiko that the reason Reiko couldn't stay home during May was because her mother had a type of annual insanity, an insanity that kept her locked in her room, screaming random phrases about how much she hates Kenshin? Reiko didn't even KNOW about Kenshin. And she wouldn't be able to understand her mother's attachment to him. He always knew that there would come a time when she would wonder about that, but he never imagined that he would be the person to explain it to her. Perhaps when she was older, he would be able to. But now was not the time.
"It's because your mom goes to away to China every May," Sanosuke lied, still not looking at Reiko for fear of being discovered. "You know, to teach students."
"But why can't I stay at home with Yahiko?" Reiko asked curiously.
"Because Yahiko's usually busy and he can't really take care of you."
"But you don't take care of me, either. You're usually not home and I end up staying with Fox Lady anyway." At the words "Fox Lady", Sanosuke couldn't help but laugh. She had inherited at least ONE trait from Kaoru: dislike of Megumi. Reiko narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing. Now, let's start training. I want you to punch me in the stomach as hard as you can," Sanosuke ordered. He would've told her to try punching him in the face, but she couldn't exactly reach that high. Another thing she had inherited from Kenshin was height or, rather, severe lack of it.
Reiko hesitated. "Won't that hurt?"
"Just do it!" he snapped.
"All right...don't say I didn't warn you." She punched him in the middle of his stomach with all her might. Sanosuke didn't even stagger.
"Is that the best you can do? You couldn't kill a fly with that punch!" he said incredulously. "Try harder." Reiko, glaring at him fiercely, punched again. "Reiko...I hardly felt that. You can't punch well at all. See, you don't have motivation." (A/N: Meilin all over again, eh, Evil Authoress?)
Reiko paused. She concentrated on Masashi's ugly face and how she would like nothing more to pummel it into the ground. She concentrated on every single rude comment he had ever opened his mouth to say. And she concentrated on the burning feeling that his slap had left behind. Taking a deep breath, she wound up, and punched Sanosuke again.
"That was good, Reiko!" he said, his eyes wide with shock. "I didn't expect you to punch that hard until at least a week of training!"
"Let's just say I had some help," Reiko said darkly.
"Okay. Now that I know what you're capable of, I'll go find more suitable objects for you to beat up."
As she watched Sanosuke leave, Reiko felt astonishingly pleased with herself. She knew, now, that Masashi would pay for what he had done. And he would pay very dearly.
* * *
~April 1888~
"NO! STOP IT! STOP IT, PLEASE!" Reiko woke up from a dream she could barely remember, screaming those words.
"Reiko, what happened?" Kaoru asked frantically, rushing into Reiko's room with her wooden sword clenched in her hand. She glanced around the room quickly, looking for someone who could've been the cause of Reiko's screaming. When she saw there was no one there besides her daughter, she calmed down and asked, "What happened?"
Reiko looked at Kaoru then sat up, hugging her knees. "Blood."
"What?" Kaoru asked, looking confused. "'Blood'?" Reiko nodded.
"A lot of it. Everywhere. Just...I don't know...blood. It's all I can remember," Reiko said, shaking. Kaoru sat down beside her and hugged her.
"You had a nightmare, didn't you?" she asked consolingly. Reiko stared up at her.
"It wasn't a dream. It was too real. Besides, I could FEEL the pain, mom," Reiko said. She shuddered. "But I can't remember ME getting hurt in the dream. I can't remember anything, really. Just blood."
"Reiko, dreams are often very real. But you're not bleeding, and there's no blood in this room. So it never really happened," Kaoru told Reiko, patting her on the back. "And anyway, there's no one here."
Reiko shook her head. "But there WAS blood, mommy. I don't care if it was a dream. There was a lot of it. And...I'm scared." She burst out crying. Kaoru didn't really know what to do. It was the first time Reiko had ever had a nightmare that horrible. 'Something about this really bothers me. Whenever Kenshin had dreams about his past, they usually ended up meaning something. Hers have never meant anything...but this dream...it absolutely terrifies her. Could it be that the fact that she's been holding her sword in a battle intended way has somehow triggered something in her mind? I never taught her swordsmanship before for fear of how it would affect her...this is just the kind of thing I was afraid of.' Kaoru thought.
It took a while for Reiko to go back to sleep, and she wouldn't let Kaoru leave her side until she did. But the following morning, Reiko behaved as if she never had the dream at all.
"So...do I get taught today?" she asked happily during breakfast as Sanosuke grumbled about how cranky women were in the morning.
"We'll---oh honestly, Sanosuke, shut up---we'll see, Reiko," said Kaoru. She wasn't entirely sure whether the whole thing was a good idea.
"Hey! That's not fair! You promised, mommy! If I don't get taught swordsmanship, then I'm not going to school," Reiko threatened.
Kaoru sighed. "I want you to stay home from school today anyway, Reiko. Is that okay with you?"
"Are you kidding me? Of course it's okay! We were going to practice songs today, and now I don't have to!" Reiko said gleefully.
"Why is that, Kaoru?" Sanosuke asked, looking very pissed off indeed. "I don't appreciate getting up early in the morning, dragging my butt here, waiting for Reiko as she takes forever to get dressed, then walking her to school, and after that walking back."
"Sorry Sano," Reiko said apologetically. "But as my mommy says, my hair is difficult to manage."
"And anyway, can't you get Megumi to take her to school? Unlike her, I have a life!" Sanosuke complained to Kaoru.
"Reiko, make yourself useful and go wake Yahiko. Tell him that there's not going to be any breakfast left unless he hurries up and gets here," Kaoru told Reiko.
"He shouldn't get any food. I made it," Reiko mumbled, but did as Kaoru asked and left the room.
"Sanosuke," Kaoru began as soon as Reiko was gone. "She had a really horrible nightmare last night."
"So?"
"You know how Kenshin's nightmares always meant something, and that something was never a good thing. I'm worried for her safety. So I'm going to ask you to watch her for today, Sano," said Kaoru.
"Kaoru, you're being paranoid," Sanosuke said airily. "Besides, Reiko knows how to take care of herself.
"Oh, really?" Kaoru asked, raising her eyebrows. "Reiko just turned eight about a month ago and you mean to tell me that she can take care of herself? Exactly what am I missing out on, Sanosuke?"
"Well...you see..." Sanosuke began hesitantly, "I've sort of...well...I've been teaching her the 'futae no kiwami' for the past year or so. She's pretty good, although she can only disintegrate small objects like cups, albeit not too well."
"SANOSUKE!" Kaoru screamed, livid with rage. "You should've asked me before teaching her a technique like that! SHE'S WAY TOO YOUNG, SANOSUKE! I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT KIND OF DAMAGE THAT'LL DO TO HER MIND!"
"When exactly was I supposed to tell you this, Kaoru? While you were lying in bed for a month, crying and wishing for the ground to open up and swallow you whole? Or when you were throwing things at the door, screaming for your beloved rurouni? Or maybe I should've told you when you threw knives at a dartboard, pretending it was Kenshin's head! Yeah, then maybe I would've ended up with a dart protruding from my forehead! That's real smart!" Sanosuke screamed, equally as enraged if not more.
At that moment, Reiko dragged a groggy Yahiko into the room, who sat down and screamed, "Where's my food?! I want my food!" Then he fell face- first into his bowl of rice.
"He's eager..." Reiko muttered, sitting down beside him. "What did I miss?" she asked when she saw the looks on Sanosuke's and Kaoru's faces.
"Nothing," they said immediately, and refused to look at each other for the rest of the meal.
"Whew," Megumi said, entering the kitchen. "I am exhausted. I was up all night."
"Hello, auntie Megumi," said Reiko, and proceeded eating her food. Normally, she would hug someone who was close to her but Megumi was the only exception. She didn't really like Megumi. Megumi was an example of the "perfect woman", a woman who knew how to pour sake right, tie an obi perfectly, and never crease her kimono when sitting down. Something about this perfection bothered Reiko. It seemed that Megumi was, in a way, better than she was at being a woman. Sighing, Reiko shook her head. She hardly understood what it meant to be a woman, and something told her that pouring sake correctly was not all there was to it. And yet...Reiko shook her head again.
"What's up with them?" Megumi asked Reiko quietly, indicating Sanosuke and Kaoru. "Did they have an argument?"
"I have no idea," Reiko answered. "I came in with uncle Yahiko and they were just sitting there, not looking at each other. Uncle Yahiko, I think you should get your face out of the bowl now," she added to Yahiko, who grunted and didn't budge.
"He'll be like that for a while," Megumi said. "What's going on, you two?"
"Nothing," Kaoru and Sanosuke repeated, still not looking at one another.
"I think they got into a fight..." Reiko said. "But I'm done with breakfast and I'm bored. Oh yeah!" She gave Megumi a bowl of rice. "I made it, not mommy, so it's not poison."
"Thanks," Megumi said. Sanosuke rose to his feet.
"Come on Reiko," he said, taking her arm and dragging her to her feet. "Let's go."
Kaoru rose as well, and stopped Sanosuke as soon as Reiko was out the door without him. "About the topic of our argument, don't mention it to her."
"You think I'm stupid, don't you?" he asked.
"No, I don't. And remember to watch her like a hawk."
* * *
"Okay, this is my friend's daughter, Reiko, and she'll be joining us today," Sanosuke said as Reiko went to get herself comfortable in front of the gambling table. "She's only seven so remember to be civil around her. Which means no sick jokes and no curse words." His friends nodded their heads.
"Okay, bastards!" Reiko said, rolling up her sleeves. "Bring it on!"
One of Sanosuke's friends raised his eyebrows. "You were worried about US being uncivil?" he asked incredulously.
Laughing nervously, Sanosuke said, "She's been hanging out with me for a while...I guess she sort of picked that up."
"Hey, whose kid is she? She looks a lot like Kenshin...is she his kid?" another of his friends asked.
"Yeah, and since Kenshin had to...er...leave, I would really like it if you didn't mention him to her. She doesn't know about him," Sanosuke informed them. They nodded again, and went to join Reiko along with Sanosuke.
After Reiko had guessed wrong about fifteen times, she realized that what she was doing was extremely boring. What was even more shocking was that she actually felt she would rather be at school. After all, she hadn't seen Masashi since she had fully learned the "futae no kiwami" and she was eager to show him what she'd been up to for the past two years. She sighed.
"Sano? Can I go outside to get a drink of water?" she asked him.
Sanosuke looked up and stared at her for a moment, as if shocked to see that she was there. "What? Oh, sure." He immediately directed his attention back to the dice.
Reiko wandered outside. She didn't really want a drink of water, but she simply needed to get away from the stuffy room filled with men who told jokes she didn't understand. 'What's even more unfair is that they drink sake, but won't let me! Those old jackasses probably think I'd faint or something.' She thought, and then smiled. 'It's funny. A while ago I would've felt guilty or something if I used a word like "jackass". But now, I don't really care. Who cares if I'm not dainty? I like being a fighter.' She looked at her wooden sword, which she had strapped to her waist even though she was wearing a kimono. She didn't normally bring it with her when she went somewhere, but something told Reiko to drag it along this time, just in case.
Unfortunately, Reiko's instincts proved to be correct. While she was distracted, someone had snuck up behind her. The last thing Reiko felt before slipping away into complete darkness was that of a very heavy object being brought down upon her head.
* * *
Reiko woke up a little while later, no longer in the garden of Sanosuke's friend. She was at a place she had never before visited in her life: the docks. But her location wasn't of any importance to her. Reiko concentrated more on the very sharp and very non-wooden-like sword that was pressed to her neck, and the blood that was trickling down it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yay! Another chapter is complete. I tried to make this chapter as short as possible but I really couldn't help it. I. Write. A. Lot. ^^ It's just something I do. I really hope no one minds...
Next Chapter: You find out who's actually pressing the sword to Reiko's neck! And Reiko finally gets her revenge on Masashi...MWAHAHAHAHA! I will enjoy writing that part, that I will. I know someone should never actually HATE their own character...but I don't like Masashi. Oh well. I also might add a few old characters in it. If not in the next chapter, then in the chapter after it.
For reviewers: You get to throw darts at Shishio-sama! YAY! I'm just kidding, although if you hate him do whatever you want in my fic. And for reviewers who like Shishio...you can protect him with magical shielding powers! Or...something. I just watched a new episode of RK on Cartoon Network and I'm really hyper! So ja ne and r & r!