This is one of my crappier chapters so far. My updating has been less than par cus I've got friends visiting and my summa skoo doesn't give me any advantages like it did last year. The chapter is semi dull, just setting up a relationship, a FRIENDLY one thank you, and establishing a different side for Ama. Besides, I always wanted Sano and the short ones to spend more time.
Review? Ideas? Don't yell at me?
Kenshin sat in thought for a while thinking over the story Amaterasu had just told. He could tell by her voice alone that every word of it was true, and the fact that her father had asked for him specifically pushed him to help her more. "I myself do not know the name of the man who was assigned that part of Kyoto that night," he finally said sadly. Amaterasu's fists clenched in anger at the response. "But I think I do know someone who might know."
"Really?" she asked looking up at him.
"He might be visiting town again in a few days," Kenshin smiled. "And if you told him your story I'm sure he would tell you, that he would."
She looked at her feet again smiling sadly and closing her eyes. For a while there was no noise in the room, until Sano's ears picked up something. He stared at Amaterasu listening; she was crying, sobbing even, with tears running down her cheeks into her lap. "Thank you Mister Himura. For four years I've been trying to track this man down and this is the first lead I have ever gotten."
"I'm glad Kenshin could help you in finding your family," Kaoru smiled.
"If you'll excuse me," Amaterasu nodded standing up. She took the black bandage form around her hand and fixed it back to her eyes. "I must find a hotel for the night. If I'm going to stay in town for a few days I'll need a room."
"I thought you were staying here?" Kaoru asked getting up.
Amaterasu headed for the doorway shaking her head, "I couldn't ask you to do that." Just as she had reached the door, Sano stepped before her blocking her path. "Zanza what are-"
"Now listen here Missy," he barked pointing a finger in her face, "you saved my life today. You saved their lives without them even knowing about it! They willing invited you to stay here earlier and now you're backing out on it? I saw that's bad manners."
"And what do you know about manners?" she scoffed getting angry. "A ruffian like you who runs out on a meal, insults people he just met, and probably flirts relentlessly with women!" Kaoru and Kenshin both had to hold back snickers on the last one. She prodded him with one finger glaring at him. "I'm not going to intrude on them, I don't think THAT'S polite."
Kaoru stepped in between them, "Excuse me? I think you two should stop arguing. Miss Ama, you can stay here if you wish. Sano leave her alone!" She ended her intrusion by smacking him in the gut.
"Now you listen Little Missy-" Sano started to argue. Before he could finish Yahiko came running into the room.
"Kenshin! Kaoru! I ran into Dr Gensai on the way home!" he panted.
"What's wrong Yahiko?" Kenshin asked getting up.
He took a deep breath, "He said he needed to see you too, he said it was urgent!" Ayame and Suzume came trotting down the hall clinging to Yahiko's legs. The boy samurai looked down at them, "What about them?"
"I can watch them," both Sano and Ama offered.
"We'll be back soon," Kaoru answered not paying attention as she, Kenshin, and Yahiko bolted out the door. Ayame ran to Amaterasu flinging her small arms about her legs sniffling.
Amaterasu knelt down hugging her, "What's wrong sweetheart?"
"Grandpa wouldn't let us stay!" she cried.
"Yeah! We didn't get to stay!" Suzume pouted holding her arms out to Sanosuke. Sano merely stared at her with an eyebrow raised. She cried even louder when he didn't pick her up. Ama turned and glared at him making him pick the child up. "Sanosuke? Why didn't we get to go too with Grandpa and Uncle Kenny and Auntie Kaoru and Yahiko?"
He scrunched his head thinking of a good excuse, "Hopefully not the same reason they wouldn't let me go!" That made her laugh and she played with his red bandana. "Hey watch it!" he laughed twisting his head away. He turned over to Ama, "How you holding up?"
She smiled at his question; Ayame had stopped crying and was hugging Amaterasu as tight as her little arms could manage. "Why don't we do something fun huh?"
"Like what?" Sanosuke asked still trying to dodge the grabbing hands that threatened to braid his hair again.
"Like what Ama?" Ayame asked letting go of her death grip.
"Well," she thought about it exaggerating her actions to amuse the two children, three if she counted Zanza. A thought struck her and she nearly burst out laughing as she said it aloud, "I could beat up Sagara! That would be entertaining!"
"Hey!" he defended glaring at her. The two girls giggled and cheered egging them on. "Hey," Sanosuke smiled pointing at her, "you just called me Sagara. All day you've been calling me Zanza and now all of a sudden it's Sagara. I think you're starting to warm up to me."
She rolled her eyes standing up, "Please. Don't flatter yourself Zanza." Sanosuke sighed at her going back to his gang fighter name. "How about we go for a walk? You two can show me the sights in Tokyo!"
"Yah! That's sounds great!" the girls cheered.
"Alright then!" Sano cheered throwing a fist in the air. "First stop all the old fighting grounds!" Amaterasu looked at him shocked and covered Ayame's ears.
"Fighting grounds?" she hissed. "Are you nuts?"
"Hey half of them they were there for," he scoffed patting Ayame on the head.
She sighed, but seemed content and smiled at Ayame, "If you girls are alright with it, then let's get going!" Sano set Suzume down letting her run to Ama's side. She in turn glared at him, "No foul language, and no horror stories!"
"Now why-" he started but huffed and shrugged it off. Fine then, be a bitch for all I care. Not like your opinion of me matters anyway. He shoved his hands in his pockets and followed the three girls out.
After about half an hour of walking around, Amaterasu had heard only two or three of the famed fights of Kenshin Himura the Wanderer and the small group that hung out at the dojo. Suzume suddenly tugged on Sanosuke's pant leg. He looked down giving her a smile, "What's up kid?" She only responded by holding her arms out to him and pouting. "What?
"What is it?" he asked utterly oblivious to her gestures.
"Pick her up," Amaterasu suggested. Sano looked at her with a raised brow. "She wants to be picked up. That's the universal gesture for up."
"The babysitting thing from back home huh?" he asked complying with the young girl's wishes. She clung to his neck nearly choking him and causing him to cough, "Whoa, ease up a little. Ack. Come on!"
Ama gently pried her fingers looser, "Careful Suzume. He wont let you fall, don't worry." The girl giggled and just to prove it waved her arms in the air testing their promise. "Where are we going to next?" she asked Ayame who was content with walking by her side.
"Let's go visit the shrine!" she cheered jumping up and down.
"Shrine?" Sanosuke asked. Thinking about it he laughed, "Oh! You mean where we had to fight all the sumo wrestlers and that buddy of yours saved you! Alright, it's a long walk though."
"We're tough!" Ayame argued. "Just like you and Uncle Kenny! We won't stop or slow down! We can walk for hours!"
"Yah! Hours!" Suzume agreed fiercely nodding her head.
"Well if that's the way you feel let's get going," Ama chuckled. Sano watched as Ayame grabbed her hand walking proudly as if she was proving how tough she was. Ama's eyes were bright and seemed to smile from the inside at seeing the happy children and people around her. It almost seems fake though, as if she was just putting on a happy face for the girls. I wonder how upset she was by the news from Kenshin about the man who killed her parents. Her eyes sure are pretty when they light up like that. "You three have told me about fights between Kenshin and someone, or even Kaoru or Yahiko, but what about you Zanza? I'd think you would have a few good stories to tell."
He puffed out his chest looking around him, "Well I haven't been in any story worthy fights lately, but the ones I have been in are too gory for these two to hear."
"What about Sensei?" Suzume asked tilting her head with childlike curiosity.
"Sensei?" Ama echoed sounding interested.
"I can't believe I forgot about that!" he gasped. Turning the girl in his arms he asked, "Now how did you think of that?"
"The bridge!" she giggled pointing to the ground. The other three looked around realizing they were waling on a bridge. To Sanosuke it was the very bridge that he, Kenshin, and Sensei had fought against Toma and his vicious assassins. He set Suzume down kneeling for a moment as the other two stopped watching.
"Ok smarty, where was the carriage?" he asked winking at her. She ran of a few feet away and jumped up and down signifying the spot. "So that means I was right about here," he mused finding his place as well. He spun around to face the girls, "Surrounded by a dozen swordsmen at least!" The two girls giggled at his playfulness; he took a peek at Ama to see her reaction, but she was just shaking her head sadly. He stood up straight continuing, "You see they were going to kill the man in the carriage, a high ranking official. I knew that Toma and his men had taken Sensei with them, and he being a good friend of mine I couldn't let them push him back to the life of killing he had given up."
"Of course not," Ama responded watching as the two girls ran around helping point things out to her. "So what happened?"
"Sano ran out of nowhere!" Ayame cheered.
He jumped in place as she said that, "Right! So I was protecting the official and he ran away. So a bunch of the men go to attack me, and I just swing right through 'em!" Ayame ran towards him as if she were the one attacking him and he picked her up swinging her around. "They didn't even get a chance to draw their swords before they were," he pointed at Suzume who fell over on the ground, "boom. Down for the count.
"Then I went to go help the official as he was chased down, but Toma pulled his sword," he continued setting down Ayame. She held her arm up as if it were a sword.
"Don't even think about it!" she growled trying to make her voice deep. Sano turned his head hearing Amaterasu laugh watching the scene played out before her.
"Then of course Kenshin showed up," he explained. Suzume had taken the part of Kenshin and ran in trying to tackle her sister. "But he didn't do that. So while Toma was busy with him, me and Sensei knocked the rest to the ground!"
"Well what did Toma do once he was defeated?" Ama asked egging the girls on.
"He was going to kill himself!" Ayame gasped.
"Yah kill himself!" Suzume cheered.
Sano went over to the two ruffling their hair, "But Sensei wouldn't let him, and he took his sword from him. Now you have to understand that Sensei promised me he wouldn't ever hold another sword again. So, I snatched it from him, smiled, and threw it into the river!" He pointed out across the water behind Amaterasu making her look over her shoulder almost expecting to see it splash. "So, that was my little part in that. Not too exciting."
"What about the sumo wrestlers?" Ama asked getting confused, "Where were they?"
"No Ama!" Ayame huffed. "That was later! Not here!"
"Oh," she blinked back, "I'm sorry. We should get to the sumos then before I get confused. What do you say?"
The two girls looked at each other before shouting, "Toskoi!" Then they attempted to do a little sumo pose of their own making the two older ones laugh. They walked up laughing and joking about a few other adventures; eventually they dragged out one specific story from Sanosuke. He had to tell them all about when he went to rescue Megumi from the Oniwanban Ninjas and their mansion fortress.
"A giant ball and chain?" Ama asked looking amazed at his strength. Sano scratched the back of his head embarrassed, but she only smiled. "It takes a lot of strength to dodge the first attack, even more to withstand the second, but to break the chain and withstand the blows from its owner? That takes more strength than I've ever seen Sanosuke."
He smiled shyly as the two girls ran further up the path once they neared the shrine, "Really? You think so huh?" She nodded turning her gaze away from him. She complimented me? Wait a second the only time she's been friendly with me she called me Sagara! Didn't she just- When they reached the broken steps that began where the Shrine Gate was, he stepped forward climbing up the first broken mass extending a hand to her. "You know, you just called me Sanosuke."
She stared at him in shock realizing her slip again. She ignored his hand leaping over the rubble effortlessly. She took a glance back at him once she had and smirked before catching up with the young pair. Sano grumbled to himself as he went after her, "I oughta just stop being nice. Not like I'm getting anywhere with it." Her black braids swished back and forth as she went ahead of him; he personally thought they were mocking him, but they obviously were not.
Upon reaching the halfway point of the winding stairs, Amaterasu sat down among them where Ayame and Suzume waited. "So?" she asked. "What happened?" The smile on her face reflected eagerness of a story and patience for the two energetic children.
"A really mean sumo and a bunch of other sumos were up there," Suzume explained pointing to the shrine. She turned back to where Sanosuke was climbing and said, "Me, Ayame, Auntie Kaoru, Uncle Kenny, Sanosuke, Yahiko, and the sumo were down there."
"Uncle Kenny and Sanosuke ran up the steps to beat up the bad guys!" Ayame cheered jumping up and down. "But the mean men threw a big rock at us and the sumo guy saved us!" The two burst into a round of 'toskoi' and other things laughing and running up ad down the stairs. The rest of the story was a bit mumbled together, but Ama assumed that the leader of the sumos fought their friend while everyone else watched. "Kaoru trained him for a really long time to make him better!"
"Yahiko was really mean to him," Suzume whispered.
"That was a pretty good time actually," Sanosuke sighed cracking his knuckles as he sat down. "All of the were running around with wooden swords as if they were swordsmen!"
Suzume tugged on his sleeve, "And you teased them about that too!" She tried to lower her voice to match his, "Sumo wrestlers should leave the swords to people like Kenshin!" Amaterasu looked like she was struggling to stay polite and not laugh, but Ayame's giggling egged her on and she burst into laughter as well.
"Those smug sumos thought me and Kenshin would go down easily," Sano continued trying to ignore them. "They especially taunted me because I didn't have a sword." He scowled at the memory and the thought of being underestimated. He cracked a small smile remembering the end of that fight, "But they were quite mistaken and had plenty of time to think about it lying on the stairs unconscious."
Ama considered their surroundings for a moment, "It must have been hard having to run up the stairs and fight. Even more so with all the room being taken by all the wrestlers."
"Naw," he chuckled giving her a sly grin. "I didn't even touch the stairs! I shot up into the air running on their head and knocking them down!" At the word 'up' Suzume gestured to be picked up again, this time to Ama. She smiled softly lifting the girl onto her lap. Sano nearly laughed as the girl picked up one of Ama's braids playing with it. He grinned thinking, "Boy she's good with kids. Yet the kinds of questions she asks, her past, the way she fought me, and even the look in her eyes make me think that she's got just as many good battle stories as I do."
"Careful, don't pull too hard. Don't want to rip my hair out do you?" Ama laughed making Sano snap from his thoughts.
"You don't get like this just from a few scrapes and fights. I have a feeling something else happened to her after she lost her family," he thought as they decided to head back. "So what was it Ama? Who the person that made you so cold and yet so caring? What did they do?"
Yet Sano would not receive an answer from her for quite some time, but the men chasing her would rear their ugly heads in due time.
Eek, did that suck or what? Ack. Oh well, I have more maniacal plans waiting for the next chap. I am pleased with that. I was also forced for an ending, so please forgive me for that. Ugh. Begging for reviews as always. Don't forget, a happy chapter comes from a happy author, and a happy author comes from lotsa reviews.