Past and Future By Hitokiri-san )

I am happy to announce that RK will mine in less than a week as I'm gonna marry Nobuhiro Watsuki-sama this afternoon. Any objection? No? Let's return to the story then. You guys are such a fuss. (Authoress' mother felt her on the forehead)

Mom: You sure you're alright, dear?

Authoress: I'm feeling quite fine, de gozaru

Mom:....

Ch2 Commotion of all sorts


Shinmatte! Battousai froze as this single word managed to drift across his dumb mind. His immediate action was to lay his hand across his scarred left cheek.

"Oh, hi." He eyed the shocked group, his mind in complete chaos. Damn, I don't even know their names. What on earth am I supposed to do now? Pretend to be the rurouni, or act as his little brother? Oh hell.

"Kenshin? S'that you?" Yahiko asked uncertainly, not daring to approach this strange figure that was supposed to be Kenshin. He tugged at Sano's sleeve, clearly not believing what he was seeing.

"You told us he's not here!" the streetfighter accused, abruptly turning to Hiko for an answer.

"Don't you speak to me with such an attitude, Sagara." Hiko returned placidly, mentally cursing his baka deishi's untimely appearance. Battousai was looking at him almost pleadingly; He was bound to think up something quick.

"You haven't answered my question yet. Kenshin!" The spiky-haired man directed a furious glare at the hitokiri, "What the hell's happening to you!"

"I....erm.....well....." Battousai stammered, taken aback by the rude question. He unconsciously moved to Hiko's side, hoping against hope that his shishou would magically come up with some likely story.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru prodded. Something was not quite right about him, she mused. Not just the hairstyle or the daishou attached to his side. There was something.....something wrong about him that the tanuki girl could not quite decipher.

"He's not Kenshin." Hiko said simply, buying himself time to make up the story properly. The others just gaped in confusion.

That's great, Battousai thought idly as he removed the hand from his face. "Ohayou, I'm Himura Kentai, Kenshin's younger brother. Surely my brother has told you about me?

The three shook their heads in unison, eyes big as saucers. Hiko decided to play along. "Here's my other baka deishi. What's the matter? Haven't seen a man before?" he looked around from the raven-haired girl to the spiky- haired kid, his feigned annoyance intimidating the three youngsters.

Sano glowered at him before turning to Battousai. "You, Kenshin's brother?" with a nod from the latter, he said, "how much more is Kenshin hiding from us, really? I'm gonna throttle him when he comes back." Sagara declared as he approached the redhead with what he hoped to be a friendly way. Battousai smiled mechanically. Everything's working out just fine, he decided. He mentally congratulated both his shishou and himself for putting up such a fine show.

It wasn't until Kaoru's comment rang through the air that his smile froze completely.

"I don't suppose the two of you are ready to tell the truth, are you?


That ki.

He might be injured, but his sense as a swordsman had not dulled at all. After all, the ability of reading ki was one of the most deadly weapons that the Hitokiri Battousai possessed, apart from his Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.

He gingerly pulled himself upright, gathering his reddish hair back into a ponytail. Hell, he wouldn't want the man nearby to see the legendary Hitokiri Battousai looking so dishevelled, hair pouring over his face as he prepared for his sleep.

And what in the name of God was he doing here.

"What do you want Saitou."

Saitou waited patiently outside the shouji, giving Kenshin the time he needed to prepare for the Miburo's entrance. "I see you still haven't learnt your manners yet, Battousai."

"Straight to the point. What d'you want?"

Saitou produced a dark grin. "No point teaching you manners isn't it." His face turned serious. " I'll get to the point. What on earth is that Himura Kentai? Don't give me that 'he's my younger brother' stuff."

Kenshin jumped a bit. "You've come for this?"

"Yes." Was the answer. Kenshin caught a brief glimpse of Saitou's slightly perplexed face as he lighted his cigarette, a faint glow illuminating his features.

Himura cocked his head and stared, thinking if the man beside him was worth the truth.

He decided that he was.

Saitou listened intently as the former Ishinshishi relived the story, seemingly deep in thoughts. Kenshin, in the meanwhile, knew the Mibu Wolf would keep the secret for him. At least he wouldn't have to explain anything anymore after this.

"That's interesting," was Saitou's only comment for the whole chaotic - not to mention confusing - situation. "We do need someone like him currently. You know, those people we're negotiating with.....I can't say they're good, but there's a whole swarm of them out there if what my informant said was correct. Anyway." he crossed his arms slowly, "we got into contact with the gang this afternoon. They told us if we wanted negotiation we'll have to go in alone. No police force nearby."

"Fine by me."

"So, bring the lad too. He might be of use there."

".I don't really think so." said a partially disgruntled Kenshin. He had a distinct feeling that Saitou would gleefully love to have a "proper" Battousai back again.

The Miburo's snort came as no surprise to the former hitokiri. " Still thinking about that non-killing joke of yours, eh? The Battousai out there (he gave a sharp nod towards the door) might not like that."

"I'm fully aware of that," said Kenshin stiffly, "but I believe he's Himura Kenshin and that is out of your business, Saitou Hajime."

Saitou twitched his mouth into what resembled a leer. "Hope you have control over the kid, then. Anyway, the meeting will be held four days later. Prepare yourself for that." He turned on his heels and left the room, Kenshin fretting behind him.

"Turn right, through the third alley across, then north-east and that's it." Battousai mused silently, stalking down Kyoto in a leisurely pace. He watched bemusedly as a woman dragged her child across the street, eyeing him with certain wariness. Battousai smiled warmly at her, receiving an unsure smile back in return.

It's a miracle that I wormed out of trouble, he thought. Closing his eyes, the notorious manslayer recalled the practically scary moment yesterday when Kaoru gave her lethal comment. He could feel his heart stop abruptly, and looking sideways he fancied he saw his forever-arrogant master paling in shock behind that exaggeratedly protruded red collar of his mantle.

How could she know?

Both Hiten masters spent about half the century rooted to the spot, staring at the tanuki girl as if they'd never seen her before. She returned the stare with anticipation shining in her sapphire eyes.

" C'mon now....tell me the truth as to where Kenshin is! I didn't come all the way from Tokyo to Kyoto to see his brother!"

Both Sano and Yahiko agreed it was worth coming from Tokyo to Kyoto just to see the invincibly cool Hiko Seijiro face-vault.

Battousai sighed. He himself had fallen over when the tanuki had come up with that ridiculous statement; along with an equally ridiculous "oro" that Battousai presume he had picked up from the rurouni. He'd been picking up a lot from the rurouni, ne?

"Strolling the town are you Battousai?" Battousai jumped a bit as the Shisengumi Captain's voice rang from behind him. The woman stifled a gasp and, still dragging her child along, scuttled back into her house.

Dammit, I was so carried away., the hitokiri thought, hand flying automatically towards the hilt of his sword.

"What do you want Saitou?"

Saitou leaned on a nearby post, clearly absorbed in some private joke while staring down at the redhead.

Exactly the same reaction as his older self, one part of the Mibu wolf's brain chirped delightfully. He quickly squelched the thought. I'm here for business, he quickly reminded himself. And I have all the time in the world if I ever want to taunt the stupid rurouni.

He promptly recited the important details of the negotiating event to the youngster, who regarded the former Shisengumi nervously with glazed amber- flecked eyes throughout the chat. Saitou could tell the boy was still uncomfortable with his new position. He could refer to that.....it must be really absurd to have your worst enemy swayed to your side in one day's time - the Miburo let a small smile grace his lips as a brief vision of the Battousai in the green haori of the Shisengumi crossed his mind.

This unnerved the Battousai even more, though on the exterior the hitokiri's face remained a blank. When the Mibu wolf ended his short speech, he said neutrally, " Well, what're you telling this to me for? You won't need me anyway. I got banned by my brother." Not having noticed Saitou eavesdropping the previous night, he assumed that he was still Himura Kentai in Saitou's eyes.

"Cut it off, I know he'd let you go....not without a term or two, of course. Sure you want to see some blood on your blade, ne?" Saitou met his amber gaze with his own yellowish one.

Battousai grunted in indignation, ignoring the older man as he continued on his way.

"I don't enjoy killing."

Saitou produced a lighter from his pocket, not in the least disturbed that the hitokiri boy had left without an answer to his hidden request.

"Maybe he isn't as different as the idiot rurouni as I used to believe."


A gentle, almost shy knock on his shouji.

He knew who it was, of course. He could sense the visitor even before he came into sight.

"Please come in."

The young boy trotted in, positively smirking as he knelt beside Kenshin's futon.

"You feeling better?"

"Aa. It is healing well, de gozaru."

"Where'd you learn that strange manners from, anyway?" The younger Kenshin inquired, not really interested in getting the answer.

"Sessha....sort of picked it up being a rurouni," Kenshin said evasively, stopping the following "de gozaru yo" just in time. "Nothing much really."

Battousai arched a brow at this, not thoroughly convinced but decided to let it pass.

"I met Saitou Hajime on my way here," the infamous hitokiri said, "he's persuading me to help sort out his problem, no doubt. Well, in truth, he's quite...quite..."

"Unnerving? Scary? Annoying?" the rurouni suggested helpfully, but Battousai shook his head at each.

"I mean, you don't often see Shisengumi Captains turn into Meiji policemen..."he waved a hand vaguely, "..if you see what I mean."

Kenshin clucked his tongue understandingly. "I don't really understand the guy, to say the truth. Aku Soku Zan." He muttered under his breath. Battousai swept his high ponytail - the only feature that could make out the hitokiri from the rurouni, apart from the scars - behind his shoulders self-consciously, then actually smiled the tiniest of smiles at the dumbstruck rurouni. Kenshin never thought himself capable of smiling. Well, he did smile a lot - but his smiles were usually contaminated with a trace of sadness, even a sense of unworthiness. The hitokiri was smiling in an innocent, childish way; Kenshin could tell he was extremely pleased at something.

"What is it?" asked the ex-Battousai gently. He knew the boy would understand the question.

"I'm happy." The boy declared, his smile widening.

Kenshin blinked confusedly, not really sure what to do except waiting for the boy to elaborate his point. He didn't have to wait for long, however.

"I like this world." Battousai said simply, doing a sort of jig dance beside the futon. Kenshin smiled amusedly. The great Hitokiri Battousai dancing like a child..

Battousai stopped in mid-jig, scrutinizing his older self with his now violet orbs. " Hey snap out of that brooding. Can't you be happy just for once?" he said, a spark of annoyance in his voice.

"Gomen nasai Kenshin," said the rurouni apologetically. He was currently thinking that maybe the younger boy's soul wasn't nearly as stained as his own. Maybe...just maybe.

Maybe he could start all over again.

He shook his head clear of thoughts as his brother-like figure shot him a playful scowl. "I've got to tell you something." Kenshin said as Battousai began stacking up some spare blankets and folded-up futons underneath his older counterpart, trying to get him propped up against them.

"Aw, not so fast into business," Battousai replied detachedly, still deciding if he should place the blankets under the futons or vice versa.

"Not really business," Kenshin assured him, "just...well, Saitou sorta found out about you the day before."

Battousai literally jumped five feet towards heaven before he could find his voice. "He what?"

"Found out the truth about you, " the rurouni continued smoothly.

"And he'd buy that joke of a story?" the boy asked incredulously.

"Obviously," the rurouni replied, a smile tugging at his lips at his temporary "niichan" 's frantic. "It's all right really, he won't go blabbing 'bout it, de gozaru."

He received a smart smack as Battousai, who had been arranging futons behind his back, hit him upside the head with the saya of his katana. Kenshin winced as his left hand flew to his skull, briefly recalling the time when it was he who did that to his shishou when he had requested to leave the mountains.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"I think you should drop that habit of 'de gozaru'-ing, that you should," Battousai snapped sulkily behind the rurouni.

"That's not the point!" Kenshin snarled uncharacteristically, wondering how on earth had his "de gozaru"s offended the manslayer. Then it came to him. " I didn't tell Saitou who you are! He's just too sly to be fooled. And -'' he shrugged, "it's not that bad, you know. That wild wolf's okay except when he tried to piss you off."

Battousai returned the katana to his obi ruefully. "He very nearly sent me to an early grave this spring, that crazy wolf. But I can't deny he's got guts...and style."

Kenshin chuckled as he laid an elbow on the heap of futons and blankets. "So Shishou knows about you coming down here, doesn't he?"

"Course he does. And...ah! I've just remembered, me too got something to tell you."

Kenshin waited. Battousai fidgeted with the edge of his hakama, not sure how to put it in words.

"Yesterday I met some of your friends up at shishou's hut. A girl with black-blue hair and pink ribbon, a lanky rooster head with a Chinese character on his back, and a spiky-haired boy with a shinai tied to his back. Any idea who they are?"

" Kaoru-dono, Sano and Yahiko, of course." Kenshin smiled, wondering what kind of drama may unfold between his younger self and his riotous friends. Battousai nodded, then told him in full details the memorable commotion the day before.

The wanderer nearly suffocated in tears of mirth leaking from his eyes at the mere thought of Hiko face-vaulting.

Battousai patted himself on the head inwardly as he surveyed the merriment he'd created. His goal was achieved - he had sent his older self into peals of genuine laughter, not forced ones.

He gave a start as Kenshin ceased his laughter suddenly. He had sensed it too. There were no fewer than twenty presences outside the main door of the little house Saitou had arranged for Kenshin as an unspoken apology.

Battousai closed his grip on the saya of his daishou, glad that he hadn't disposed of it as the rurouni had suggested.

Seeing that the rurouni was attempting to raise himself from the futon, Battousai pressed a hand onto his shoulder, forcing him down. "I'll go check it out. You be good and stay down."

"But."

"I'll be okay if you don't get in my way." Battousai said tersely.

The wanderer tuned his gentle, lavender eyes on him.

"Please.do not hurt them...spare their lives....I ask of you." he said incoherently, almost pleadingly.

Battousai hesitated, his hitokiri sense shouting "baka" at the unreasonable request.

Kill them and be quick. You don't want the rurouni to get hurt do you? If you spare them, will they spare the rurouni? Certainly not. Don't be foolish, boy.

"Oh, shut up," muttered the redheaded boy darkly. "Right, whatever you say." He said aloud to the rurouni, who looked utterly relieved as he followed the Ishin hitokiri's previous order and slumped back onto the pile of futons.

Battousai slammed the shouji aside, hurtling towards the front gate. The people outside were good fighters, he just knew it. But what do they want - with him or with the rurouni?

Something told him it had something to do with his weird arrival into this era.


They waited tensely outside the gate, silence going through the group as their eyes locked simultaneously on their leader, a lanky man with raven hair tied into a ponytail that trailed down to his waist. He looked rather sober.

"I hope we aren't attracting too much attention," he mused. In the corner of his eyes a shadow slid silently onto the porch of the house. "He has come."

Himura Battousai looked around him impassively. A part of his mind noted fearfully that it was a twenty on one fight. The rest of him didn't care; he just wanted to get them out of there, and quick.

"What do you want?" asked Battousai coolly.

The men dispersed so that their leader could stand alone to talk with the boy.

"Himura Kenshin, aka Hitokiri Battousai, shadow hitokiri for the Ishinshishi. Do I got that right?"

Battousai very nearly jumped out of his skin, not quite knowing whether to say a yes or a no. He decided upon a no. " Iie. That's my brother."

There was some uneasy muttering going on within the group, but Battousai ignored it and so did the other man.

The man shook his head slowly. "The Battousai don't have a brother. We're sure of that. That other person in the house....he must be your present self. You- " he directed a finger at the perturbed boy, "you don't belong here; you should be in the past."

What the. "What does that matter to you?" Battousai sneered, his heart beating furiously fast against his throat. "I believe you have your own business to mind."

Ungrateful little brat, the man cursed mentally. "Give that thing back. It's dangerous," he said in an urgent voice, hand outstretched.

The redhead blinked. Is this a joke or what? "Give what back?"

The man advanced on him impatiently. "You know what I mean. The time turner."

"The what?"

"Time turner!" the man practically bellowed, causing a few men nearby to scurry away like ants.

"Just what the hell is a time turner? If you want it back, at least tell me how it looks like!" Battousai demanded, finding the situation stranger than he originally bargained for.

"How should I know what it looks like? It could be anything!" the man said as if it was no plainer than one plus one. Battousai smirked.

"Very convincing."

"See here," the man said desperately, resisting the temptation to grab the boy's collar - a wise thing to do - and tried to reason with him. "You don't mess around with time! It's our mistake that the time turner got into your hands, but you've got to return it! You understand? I don't care you're Hitokiri Battousai or anything, just give me the time turner!"

Battousai put up his hands for a "stop" signal. "I'm not trying to make life difficult for you, but what does the damned thing looks like? I'm trying to help you!"

"Yeah, right." The leader said awkwardly, realizing the hitokiri was quite right - he was getting nowhere with his temper. "I will be grateful for your cooperation. We can bring you right home if we can find the cursed thing."

Battousai felt a flutter in his stomach as though there were living butterflies inside it. He didn't want to go home, if it was what it was called; Battousai never considered that to be a home. If returning the time turner meant he was to return to the Bakumatsu, he sure as hell wasn't going to return it.

"Er." he said, buying himself more time to think up an excuse properly.

"Right," the raven-haired man pressed on eagerly, is there anything you were touching, or handling when you got transferred into this time zone? Anything could be the time turner, once the time turning ability got into it." he babbled on, and Battousai couldn't help but listened intently.

Anything? The hitokiri wondered briefly what he had been doing when he got transferred into the Meiji era.

The top. you were spinning the top. Battousai realized with horror. He put a hand on the side of his navy haori. He could feel the top in there, untouched since yesterday.

He must have looked quite shocked because the twenty-one pairs of eyes were all looking at him expectantly.

"Where is it? Where is the time turner?"

The group of people kept staring, waiting for an answer. Battousai pretended to think, all the while wondering how he could get away with this. Just when all were getting impatient, a whistle rang shrilly in the distance. Everyone swiveled his head to the source of the nuisance.

"Shinmatte, it's the police." The dark-haired leader muttered imperiously. Turning sharply to the wide-eyed hitokiri, he said quickly, "We'll be back. Just wait for us here and don't run around. My name's Zenei Makimoto." With that he signaled his men, who nodded respectfully.

They were gone in a second. The youngster rubbed his eyes; the whole group had seemingly dissolved into thin air.

"Himura-san! Himura-san! Are you all right?" the police officer panted, having sprinted past three streets to get here. Battousai smiled gratefully; the man had just saved him from a tight corner.

"Daijoubu." He replied, smiling brightly.


"Some thugs, huh?" Saitou raised an unbelieving brow. The boy was hiding something; he was sure of it. He looked around at the older Himura. He too was blinking his eyes in a skeptical sort of way.

Well, they weren't the Hitokiri Battousai and the Captain of the Third Troop Shisengumi for no reason. In the Bakumatsu, any miscalculation or misreading of their opponents might have got them killed; they wouldn't be standing there if they were any idiots.

"They're one hell of some thugs, if what you said is true," said Kenshin in a bored voice. He'd tried any and everything to weasel the truth out of the kid, but after an hour of cross-examination Battousai simply sealed his mouth completely and insisted that those intruders were "some sort of thugs".

"I aren't here to talk about thugs, anyway," said Saitou, finally giving up with a sigh. He had discovered, bit by bit, that the 15-year-old invincible Battousai was really no more than a child; every part of him resembled a mere boy, which was doubly hard to notice when this "boy" was in battle.

Battousai stretched himself out on the tatami mat, tired of being investigated by the two older men who were definitely not morons. "You come to talk about the negotiation, right? Fine then, psycho cop, you can leave me out." He was growing steadily more comfortable with Saitou's presence; now the kid seemed able to forget that the Miburo was the culprit who nearly sent him to an early grave that very spring. The boy also took pleasure in thinking up weird and mildly insulting names for the ex- Shisengumi, such as "psycho cop" and "badass wolf". Quite to his dismay, Saitou never reacted to those names; The placid wolf already had a lot of practice with Sano when it come to calling names.

He sure is trusting, the wolf thought, but he gave the hitokiri a blood- freezing glare before he continued.

Battousai watched, thoroughly bored, as both dragon and wolf pored over rolls and rolls of what seemed like one year's worth of intelligence on the so-called Vanguard of Justice assassination group.

Aren't they bored, the younger Himura wondered idly. "I can't see the use of looking over excess information and stuff. Just go in there, talk, kick their ass if they won't listen. Things got to be more interesting that way."

The Wolf of Mibu raised a brow behind the heap of paper, thinking what a miracle it had to be for Battousai to have survived the Bakumatsu with that theory.

"You used to think like that?"

"Well...sessha does," replied the rurouni, slightly embarrassed. "But then sessha got loads of people to plan things for me. All I have to do is," he tilted his chin towards his younger counterpart, "as he said, 'Just go in there, talk, kick their ass if they won't listen.' Leave out the word 'talk', de gozaru." He amended, returning to the parchment he was reading.

A slight hint of a smirk lingered on Saitou's mouth, but he too buried himself into explaining to the ex-hitokiri certain intelligence and whatnot. Battousai, feeling left out, walked over and stared out at the window. It was a fine day indeed; he trained his eyes on certain shoppers stalking past, wondering how Shishou could explain to the so-called friends- of-his-brother why he'd disappeared off the surface of the earth along with Kenshin.

The boy yawned. He wanted out. He just wanted a walk outta this room, out of earshot of this good-for-nothing discussion. He looked from the open window to his two companions, and it could not be plainer that all he wanted was to jump out of the window once and for all.

"Go on, stroll wherever you like. Just stay out of trouble and get back here before noon." Saitou called out in half a mind. With a muffled "yatte", Battousai leaped over the windowsill elegantly to freedom.

"Matte!" Kenshin cried out. He was far too late; Battousai unmatchable speed had already brought him somewhere far out of sight.

"Leave the boy be, Battousai. He can take care of himself," the wolf puffed on his cigarette serenely.

"Demo..."

"Don't forget, he's as much Battousai as you are," Saitou said reasonably, " and if the great Battousai couldn't take care of himself it's too bad."

Kenshin settled himself with a small sigh. "Yeah, Sessha guess so."


A boy, clad in midnight blue and no more than fifteen, went streaking through the Kyoto streets as though he was a human tornado. He was absolutely fast; no one seemed able to take a good look of him as he ran past, street after street, gales of boyish laughter accompanying the superhuman speed.

He couldn't believe he was doing that. He had heard the loud "matte" and...

He chose to ignore it.

The redheaded hitokiri laughed out loud. He knew he shouldn't be doing this to his older self.

And yet he did it.

It was such fun to pull a joke on the rurouni, just a small one wouldn't hurt. With an appreciative chuckle, the teenager steadied the daishou on his obi. He had his plans for the day.

Katsura-san, sorry I can't return the wakizashi to you, he thought, couldn't help but feeling a little nostalgic over his former Ishin members. Hiroshiya...I hope you're all right. Just don't end up in the wrong place at the wrong time again. It could've gotten you killed.

He nearly got himself flattened by a careening carriage, having run headlong into it amid his musings. Lucky for him, his excellent reflexes saved his neck just in time. Battousai gave himself a stern mental scolding; he really shouldn't be spacing out while he was walking, let alone running.

Shaking his head clear of thoughts, Battousai started tracing his way back to his shishou's. All of a sudden he wanted to see his older self's friends, to make them his friends also. For Kami-sama's sake everybody need friends, and this hitokiri boy was certainly no exception.

The flame-haired hitokiri skidded to an abrupt halt. He didn't feel right.

He'd never needed friends. He'd never wanted to play tricks on anyone before. He'd never been bored of discussions of tactics or sorts when the situation demands it, which used to amaze his former Ishin comrades and confirm their believe that he was a boy from hell.

In short, he'd never been a normal boy before.

Maybe I'm right about staying here after all. Returning to the Bakumatsu would do me no good. And certainly do my victims no good, either.

Staying in the Meiji Era is the best choice, ever.

They were lunatics, Hiko decided, massaging his temple softly. He wondered irritably how a number of three people could produce a market's worth of noise.

It was entirely his two baka deishi's fault.

He muttered a string of curse words under his breath, hoping his baka deishi - two of them- might just get run over by a carriage and die a painful death.

He was close too.

But as we all know, dreams never come true.

"Shishou! Kaoru-san! Sanosuke's-san! Yahiko-chan!" a cheerful voice erupted from out of nowhere. "I am back!"

Kaoru came out from a bush with a bokken and a murderous expression, screaming something about a certain brat not respecting ladies. Yahiko ran fast as he could, smirking and shouting "tanuki" and "busu" at the top of his voice.

Oh boy, shishou must hate it, Battousai surveyed the scene with savage interest.

The red-haired boy ducked down reflexively to avoid a shinai making contact with his head.

"NO ONE CALLS ME CHAN!''

"Maa Maa, Yahiko-CHAN!" Sano appeared, lazily dragging himself across the clearing, "yo there, Kentai-kun. Got any news on Kenshin?" he inquired, trying to wrench a biting Yahiko off his spiky hair.

"Why, you rooster-head."

"Kids should shut up while adults are talking!"

"Adults? I bet you he's only five years older than me at most!"

"Brilliant, aren't you? Kenshin with a brother fourteen years younger than himself? He probably looks that young coz of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu...Yahiko- CHAN."

Battousai blinked helplessly at the two dragging himself into their argument. Stealing a look at his shishou, he noticed that the man looked rather annoyed.

"Baka deishi," Battousai gave a start, being addressed unexpectedly.

"Hai, shishou?"

"Some magnificent friends your brother's got there, isn't it?" Hiko shook his head, offering him some sake.

The hitokiri had to stifle a smirk as he took the cup. "Aa."

That single syllable somehow managed to suppress the chaos at once. As Kaoru, Sano and Yahiko suddenly realized that they were acting like total animals before a half-stranger, the three of them shut their mouths up in unison; looking as embarrassed as anyone could be.

"Gomen nasai Kentai-san!" said Kaoru sweetly, straightening her kimono self- consciously while Yahiko pretended to vomit behind her back. She ignored him; common sense was telling her unless she was approved by this Kentai- sama, she had no way of marrying Kenshin. After Kentai-san is gone he'll wish he'd never been born, the tanuki girl let the evil thought drift across her head.

Of course, her common sense was simply out of place.

Battousai bowed curtly, wondering how a beauty like that could be as violent as a tigress; all the while marveling at how his counterpart could stand being shouted at by a mere woman. Ah, women. What murderous creatures they are!

He doesn't like me, Kaoru thought horrified. He doesn't approve of a violent tomboy as a sister-in-law! Gripping a handful of her own kimono, the Kamiya girl found her hands trembling slightly. Oh, if only I can save the beating for later...

Ladies don't beat, commented a nasty voice in her head; ladies should sit elegantly, not running around beating up their deishi. Just look at Megumi...

When she finally had the nerve to raise her head again, Battousai had already abandoned her to greet Sano. The two were slapping each other on the back like long lost friends. Kaoru scowled at them both, wondering how the rooster-head could have impressed this naive looking boy. Maybe she did need a lesson from that gangster after all.

In what seemed like a whole lifetime Kamiya Kaoru sat brooding about the situation, while the other four continued their little meeting. She didn't see them huddled together talking things over seriously, not when Yahiko gave a particularly loud gasp; nor when Sano and Battousai silently walked down the mountain. A good impression would do the trick...yes.....but how on earth was she going to improve her image in Himura Kentai's eyes when she had already acted like a total jerk?

"Busu! Hey busu! Snap outta it."

Her natural reaction was to smack the ungrateful little brat on the head. "What is it Yahiko-CHAN?"

Yahiko muttered something about a violent raccoon girl. "You sure you don't want to go with them? They're going to visit Kenshin."

"Huh, what?"

The young samurai pointed to a certain two people who had already shrunken to two tiny dots in the distance.

"Shinmatte!"


Author's note: Thanks for all your sweet reviews! I thought I was going to die when someone commented my story as good. I'm a bit stuck with the 3rd chapter, however. Seems like I'm unsure how the younger Kenshin should behave himself.

Special thanks to all my reviewers! You've kept my creative juice flowing.

Koe-760-sama: My first reviewer and idea provider, and your idea certainly click with mine! It's because of your support that I'm able to finish this chapter in two more day's time after your review!! (Bows respectfully) But now I got a trouble with the Vanguard of Justice assassination group thing, thinking about whether I should write about the negotiation or not. Of course those people don't really negotiate without a fight, if you see what I mean. And I just hope my action-describing don't suck too much.

Sapphire Eyes-sama: About that grammar mistakes thing....I've suddenly found out, after re-reading it all over again (I'm too lazy to do so) that there IS a very big bunch of grammar mistakes. Gomen nasai! Next time I'll try to have them corrected before posting. Anyway thanks for your support! And the spacing thing...well originally it isn't supposed to look like that, but somehow it got into that strange format when I got it posted. I'm trying to sort that out too. Anyway, arigatou for being patient with my kindergarten sort of grammar, and for reading this story!

Boomerang-chan-sama: Thanks for your compliments!! About the spacing, originally it isn't supposed to look like that but somehow it got into that strange format when I got it posted. Sorry about the inconvenience caused! And gomen nasai because in this chapter Battousai actually dislikes Kaoru! We'll have to wait and see though.....one thing about impression is it can change, ne?

Liemtenshi-sama: A bunch of thanks to you! I wonder what liemtenshi means? Actually, I'm finding Battousai to be less murderous (oh god what did I do to him) and even playful in this chapter. I really wonder if it should go like that. Well actually I suppose this is the true character of Battousai aka Kenshin! Oh never mind, let him do anything if he wants to. I don't want a katana poking out of my screen and nailing me to my chair, no thanks. And about the interaction with Kenshin-gumi....it's quite a peculiar one I should say!

Pearly-Chan-Sama- Thanks a lot! You're my first-ever reviewer on TFME. It means so much to me! People on TFME just never reviews. So a special thanks to you as I'm thinking about not posting it on TFME. I've changed my mind.

Poppy-sama: I WILL ass on to it, definitely! I can't just let go before torturing Kenshin and Battousai, both! MUWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH (Poppy-sama sweatdrops)

Dork-in-training-sama: The thingies you mentioned....seriously, those are supposed to be quotation marks but somehow they turn out really weird. I have tried absolutely every way to make it appear normal but it won't. I don't know why but can't upload my Words document, so I've to change them into HTML docs instead. But what happens is that those little errors keep popping up on my quotation marks! I swear it has nothing to do with my English! (blinks guiltily)