A/N: Well, one month after the start of this fic and I'm at...3 chapters and a prologe. Yay? Anyways I aplogize to anyone I've angres for not updating earlier (I'm gonna kill, or horribly maim, my Muses for that). Also, I've been thinking about the genere of this fic, and I've changed it to Drama/General. But there's still going to be action, romance, a little humor, and of course some form of adventure in here; it's just more drama-ish. Grrrr.

omasuoniwabanshi: To tell you the truth, I'm not sure where I cameup with that comparison, but I'm glad you liked it! As for Sojiro's age; I'm gonna have to disagree with you. Sure he looks like he's 14/15, but looks can be wrong, as learned with Kenshin. Besides, I don't think that a five year-old could be phyicly strong enough to slay his family, let alone have the mentle capasity to hold them all in such hate. But that's just me. Thanks for reviewing and answering my question yet again (you're so nice!).

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except Kakiku, Ashira, the plot, and any other charactersI comeup with. (duh)

"..."-dialoge
Italics- thoughts or stress on word
O0o...o0OO0o...o0O-change in scene

0o. Chapter 3 .o0

Birds, which had once been peacefully resting within the upper branches of a tree, were soon dislodging themselves in a panic when they heard an unearthly bellow sounding from below. They fled into the upturned blue bowl of the sky, squawking their cries of protest and distress; and in their haste they left behind the unfortunate Kakiku, who was now wishing for a pair of wings of her own. She now stood transfixed in the spot before her seething sister, more reverently waiting for the punishment she thought she deserved then in cowardice.

Numerous times when the sisters met people for the first time, their hosts would often comment on how Ashira was more temperate of the two. How temperate indeed! It seemed as though Kakiku was the only one who understood that only a particular spark was needed to ignite the raging inferno that was Ashira's wrath. Unfortunately, Kakiku was often the cause of these sparks, and yet had managed to live through each rage that Ashira came into, which thankfully were few and far between. However, she could not remember a time when she had made Ashira angry enough to yell like she had just did. It seemed that Kakiku's chances of survival were growing slim.

After roaring at the sheepish Kakiku, Ashira fought to gain control over her voice; all the while looking as if literal steam might burst from her ears at any point. She swallowed the urge to yell again and instead chose to speak in an unnervingly calm tone.

"What do you mean, you forgot? How could you have possibly forgotten to do something this important? Please, please tell me why you forgot to mail the letter." Ashira first spoke this calmly, but as she progressed her jaw began to tighten involuntary and soon she was hissing through her clenched teeth. Kakiku, however, saw a ray of hope glimmering in what Ashira just hissed out. Smiling timidly at her, she replied confidently,

"Well, I didn't actually forget to mail the letter; I just forgot to mail it when you told me to."

The ray of hope that Kakiku had clung to now came shining into Ashira's mind. Tilting back her head, Ashira let out a sigh of utter relief towards the green canopy and said with just of hint of annoyance in her voice,

"Never, ever, scare me like that again Kakiku!"

"Heh, like I said, you're just too easy to scare." Kakiku replied, trying to recover the good mood they were enjoying before. Ashira smiled at this small attempt and shook her head.

"Right. So now you have sent the letter, right?" She said, still hoping for the answer she desperately wanted to hear.

"Yep." Kakiku replied, unknowingly fulfilling her sister's desire.

"When exactly?"

Kakiku thought for a moment as she ticked off the days using her fingers. After coming to a conclusion that was satisfactory, she stated in her characteristic cheerfulness,

"Um, about three days after you told me too." She held up three of her digits to justify her claim. Ashira sighed again, this time letting out her exasperation instead of her relief. Then, restraining her fingers from coming to message her nearly throbbing temples, Ashira groaned out to her still cheery sister,

"Oh, Kakiku, three days? That means he'd just be getting the letter by today! He has no time to prepare for us!"

At this statement, it became Kakiku's turn to experience the general exasperation that was becoming common place in their conversations. The roll in her eyes was barely visible was she made her opinion known to her stressed looking sibling.

"What's there to prepare! There's just two of us, and we don't take up much space as it is. And from what we've heard about the guy, little as it has been, he seems the type to take care of situations quickly. He probably doesn't need that much time to prepare for us. So there's no need to worry" Kakiku was completely confident as she was saying this, but as usual, Ashira saw the realistic side to this situation.

"Kakiku, we don't even know if he has read the letter yet. We can't just barge into his life without warning!"

This statement caused Kakiku to stop her words and finally realize the critical the current situation had become. A curtain of silence hung between the sisters; one girl growing less optimistic and the other still presently pessimistic. Neither one was going to shrink away from their opinions and neither was going to accept the role of peacemaker. A battle of stubborn silence raged between the siblings until it was abruptly broken by a disapproving cry of a faraway crow.

Ashira turned her head quietly to search the skies for the battle-breaking crow, and realized where exactly the sun's position was. It was getting late. Yet another cumbersome burden of worry was added to Ashira's already hunched back. If they did not hasten their journey to town they might have to spend their evening on the roadside; an experience that Ashira did not want repeated. But still, she was as stubborn as Kakiku and held her tongue.

Kakiku was on the other hand not refusing to speak to Ashira, she was instead standing still, staring fixedly into space, and mulling over Ashira's words. The throbbing realization that their arrival might not be expected sobered her immensely, that and the fact that it was truly her own fault certainly did not help whatsoever. She had let her sister down; the one soul who stayed with her and understood her the most; and Kakiku had caused her disappointment. Swallowing timidly Kakiku ended the silent war between them with a soft voice,

"Ashira, I'm…sorry. I know that it's my fault if he doesn't even know if we're coming yet, but could we still hurry to get to his place? And even if he gets angry at us for just showing up, I-I'll take all the blame…" The sobered Kakiku's voice sank to a near whisper, "I deserve it."

That soft spoken apology timidly crossed the tense plane between the sisters and waited to be accepted by the impassive Ashira. The older girl's eyes widened when she realized just what Kakiku had spoken willfully. Without betraying any emotion to the other girl Ashira gracefully came to Kakiku's side. With a fluid, precise movement Ashira linked her arm with the somber Kakiku's and began to lead her down the road to Tokyo; paying no mind to the quizzical looks they were receiving from the various passersby. As they were strolling down the road, looking more like a lady and her gentleman then a pair of bickering sisters, Ashira gave a minute squeeze upon Kakiku's arm. In response Kakiku squeezed back.

And so they went with their bond, which was sometimes tested but always there, renewed with vigor. Not a word was passed between the two, for none was needed as they approached Tokyo. And soon they were entering the city that held their future.

O0o…o0OO0o…o0O

Lunch at the Kamiya dojo passed as uneventful as such characters who lived there would allow, and before long they all were back outside again. With the exception of the young assistant master however. Kaoru had taken upon herself the task of checking the pantry for satisfactory amounts of food. Unfortunately, nearly all the essential foods were running low; and with a sigh Kaoru stepped outside in the sunshine and called out to the ex-wanderer,

"Kenshin, could you go to the market and pick up some miso, rice, and soy? We're running low."

Tacking on his usual helpful smile called back in a willing tone, "All right Miss Kaoru, I'll be leaving soon, that I will."

With his smile still attached to his scared face, Kenshin left his spot beside Yahiko and began to walk towards the dojo's gate. Right before Kaoru had given him his task he had been listening to the young swordsman relate the news of the two new arrivals to him.

Maybe Sano saw one of them earlier today. He mused.

Sensing a presence following him, Kenshin slowed his gait down to allow them to catch up. This was not needed, however, for Sanosuke was using his lengthy legsto their full advantage and easily caught up Kenshin. Still wearing his near-goofy smile Kenshin welcomed him.

"Why, hello Sano, are you coming with me to the market?" The lanky fighter snorted good naturedly and replied,

"Yah, thought it would be good to stretch my legs, get away from the kid for a while, you know." Kenshin's smile deepened when he heard Sanosuke's nickname for Yahiko. Upon receiving no reply from Kenshin, Sanosuke continued.

"Anyways, I was thinking about maybe going to go see those newcomers Yahiko was talking about after you're done buying the stuff for Missy."

Ah, so Sano's curious is he? Kenshin thought this with amusement but chose to say out loud, "Why sure Sano, it will be nice to meet them, that it will."

Sanosuke grinned with anticipation at finding out who it was exactly he spotted at the market; it seemed that he would be able to experience one last, however insignificant, adventure. Though he did not understand at that time just what kind of 'adventure' he was inviting in.

O0o…o0OO0o…o0O

Tokio absentmindedly tucked part of her ink-black hair behind her ear and surveyed the room before her. She was satisfied with what she had accomplished within the short space of time given to her, considering it had only been twenty minutes or so since Saito had made his decision concerning the letter. And it was quite the decision. Not that she had been surprised by her husband's actions; he had always had a deep almost noble sense of justice. And he would always have it even when he was no longer considered a samurai. Always…

Blinking slowly to end her session of quiet reflections, Tokio stepped out of the room and slid the door fluidly behind her. With her unexpected chore completed she traversed the porch with the sole purpose of finding Saito. Not that she needed to look, mind you; she had learned the inner workings of the Wolf of Mibu's mind literal years ago and did not hesitate when she made a beeline towards the front gate. As predicted the gate was ajar, letting the late sunlight frame the long silhouette of Saito presently standing just outside of the gate presumably waiting for their arrival.

Opening the door more to allow for better admittance, Tokio stood side by side with Saito and watched the road diligently with him. After seeing no one, save for a few stragglers returning to their homes, her eyebrows began to knit together in worry. It was late in the day; already the sun was dieing and leaving behind a trail of blood light leading towards the horizon. Saito turned from his surveillance of the road to steal a glance at his wife. Seeing her distress and guessing almost immediately what was causing it, he spoke reassurance,

"Tokio, they'll be here. I doubt that they'll want to spend a night on the road, they'll make it here shortly."

Wrapping his words around her like a warm blanket to ward off the biting winds, Tokio's eyebrows eased back into their normal position as she softly smiled. But her smile soon melted as her motherly instincts took over. Hooding her eyes with worry she whispered out to the uncaringly empty street,

"But where are they?"

O0o…o0OO0o…o0O

Though the sun was nearly finished with its journey to the horizon, the streets of Tokyo were still bustling with late shoppers and businessmen. They all seemed to be in a quiet blissful state of mind as they filled the roadways. Kakiku and Ashira fought their way up this current of moving flesh, steadily become more fatigued as they went. Ashira was silently curing the black cloud of ill fortune that had been following them since the beginning of their wretched trip, while Kakiku was content to mumble and growl at any person who dared to look her way.

Both in bad blood, the worn out sisters found a place to rest beside a fish stand that was at the moment vacant of any customers. Resisting the urge to suddenly scream out all the tension held within her, Ashira took a battered scrap of paper from her sleeve and studied it.

Oh, thank Kami; we're not far from the house. Ashira smiled stupidly at the paper in shear relief. While her sister was occupied looking like a complete idiot, Kakiku leaned against the rough exterior of the stand to gain more relief for her throbbing feet.

"Ah, miss, ya gonna buy somthin'?"

"Wha-?" Kakiku turned her head to see the keeper of the fish stand, who was amazingly enough looking almost as worn out as she. Smiling in apology Kakiku shook her head,

"I'm sorry, but no." Such a sweet reply could melt the hearts of many; but unfortunately, Ashira's cloud of misfortune had migrated over to Kakiku and that particular stand owner had had a very horrific day.

"You know you're the SECOND damn kid today that just walks right on over and wastes my time pretending you want somthin' when you don't!" As dam that had held back all this man's frustrations broke upon the unsuspecting Kakiku, she blinked in surprise at his torrents of words, while her tongue loosened and her anger rose.

"HEY! I'm just standing here to rest buddy, and I don't really care if you have a problem with that, SO GET OVER IT!"

"Why you little-."

Ashira finally snapped out of her stupor when she heard Kakiku engaging in a shouting contest with the stand owner and attracting much unneeded attention from nearby peoples. Coming uncharacteristically close to completely panicking Ashira made a desperate move. Clutching Kakiku's upper arm and very literally dragging her away from the enraged stand owner Ashira fought with new found strength to some nearby alleyways; with Kakiku still glaring death to the stand owner as he brandished one of his overpriced fish in fury.

As the sisters entered their newfound sanctuary Kakiku loosened herself from Ashira's grasp, all the while snarling out to no one in particular.

"Idiot man of a shop keeper. Call that service? I hope he doesn't sell a thing for the next five, no, seven years, heh heh…" Kakiku kept mumbling dark oaths and giggling maliciously as Ashira rolled her eyes.

"Kakiku, stop cursing the man and straighten your kimono. We're almost there and I don't want them to think that you're more deranged then you really are if you show up talking to yourself." Kakiku perked her head up as she registered this not particularly motherly rebuke.

"Oh yes, finally! Well, come on, we can hurry!" She said as she raced forward pulling along the direction giving Ashira behind her.

After many turns taken and direction checking they were lastly walking upon the street they so urgently sought. Slowing down to a normal person's gait the sisters smoothed out their travel-rumpled kimonos, straightened their few belongings, and walked along in silent anticipation.

The street was nearly unmarked, save for a solitary gate. And standing near that curious little gate was a lanky man and a woman. He was clothed in a dark uniform-type outfit while the woman's garb was a simple yet wholly elegant kimono. The woman was clasping her hands in front of her with her head down, looking as if she had dozed off in the balmy weather or was rather in the act of prayer. The man beside her stood leaning against the side of the wall casually, but the aura of alertness hung about him as he watched the opposite end of the street.

Each step Kakiku took increased the rate of her painfully pounding heart and Ashira seemed to find difficulty in swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. But together they pushed through these things and were soon barely five yards away from the couple…

O0o…o0OO0o…o0O

Saito had been lingering near his gateway expectantly watching the road before him. As the sun leisurely made its way to the unknown side of the horizon, painting the sky around it in iridescent hues of crimson and gold, the atmosphere that was upon them was indeed cozy. Actually it had seemed as if Tokio had given herself to dozing off while she had been watching with Saito, but he knew that she was much too anxious to do such a thing. And so they stood together, diligently awaiting the arrival of those who sent the letter.

Saito had started to feel like every minute was sliding off his back when he finally sensed them entering the street. Slow and timid, like two innocent sheep entering an unknown pasture, unaware of any lurking dangers or hidden treasures; and yet they pushed onward. Saito smirked to himself; at lest these girls had signs of a backbone in them.

He let his smile linger as his head was turned to his left as they approached from his right. He would spare them some discomfort by not watching their every movement and instead would let his wife greet them first. Slowly counting to ten he stealthily took his hand from the innards of his pocket, and discretely brushed his hand against Tokio's arm. Tokio smiled warmly from behind her curtain of hair; Saito's actions must only mean that they had arrived. Raising her head elegantly she looked to behold the timid girls as they approached. Seeing as how they were finally noticed, the wide-eyed and pale-faced girls stopped just shy of five feet from Saito and Tokio.

Noticing the absent of the rhythmic crunching of getas on the gravel road, Saito also turned his head to greet his visitors. A spare second stretched before them before one of the girls dared her breath in greeting,

"Hello, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Saito. We're Kakiku and Ashira."

O0o…o0OO0o…o0O

"You sure that you have to buy all that stuff Kenshin?" Sanosuke gazed questionably at the monstrous bag of rice and equally hefty buckets of miso and soy being carried by the swordsman. Kenshin smiled back in his usual cheerful yet humble way.

"Miss Kaoru likes to buy in bulk Sano, that she does. Buying a lot of food at once is a lot cheaper then buying it in small quantities many times."

"Hn. Well, since that's done maybe we could go see if we can find the place where those new people are living in town." Sanosuke tried to keep his tone as casual as normal, but could not fight off the hint of restlessness from it. Undoubtedly Kenshin caught this small slip and decided that going to find a house could not possibly cause harm.

"Well Sano, do remember where Yahiko said the house was?"

So the two companions set off to discover the site of this particular house, which was, coincidental or not, only a few minutes walk to the dojo. When they had turned into the road that led past the gate to the house, according to Yahiko, Kenshin's senses picked up on something that he had long since thought was lost. Then he caught sight of a lanky man with an equally tall woman beside him talking to a pair of girls, his pulse jumped. With buried memories of dark, blood-sprayed Kyoto streets rising unheeded in his mind, Kenshin unknowingly quickened his pace.

Sanosuke, who lacked the sharp senses of a legendary swordsman, was initially confused as to why Kenshin had started to almost sprint with the heavy loads he was bearing. But before long he too saw the group ahead; and matched his pace with Kenshin's.

O0o…o0OO0o…o0O

Tokio had just finished assuring Ashira and Kakiku that Saito and she were indeed the ones they sought when Saito heard hurried footfalls behind him; two sets. Then the wave of awareness tumbled over him when he realized just who had found him. The wolf inside him bared his fangs as Saito turned to face the legendary Battousai and the idiot Sagara; temporarily putting aside the fact that Tokio, Ashira, and Kakiku were now watching the three men.

One can just imagine the discomfort and confusion Ashira and Kakiku must have felt as they watched the already formidable looking Saito change to look absolutely murderous when he turned to face the newly arrived men. Tokio, however, was not disconcerted when she witnessed her husband's change in persona, but was rather curious to find out just who had caused him to lose the mask of Goro Fujita. Craning her neck ever-so slightly she at once caught sight of the tell-tale red hair and a cross shaped scar.

That's him, the Battousai, the one who Saito fought. Her thoughts were amazed to see that her husbands long-ago adversary was standing just outside her home. But any shock was soon forgotten when she felt Saito tense in quiet anger.

I can't let Ashira and Kakiku see him like this! The conscious voice inside her screamed reasonably. Turning back again to the perplexed girls, Tokio held open the gate with one arm and motioned with the other.

"Won't you please come inside?" Ashira stopped her staring when she heard Tokio's gentle offer. Smiling back with great politeness she nodded once and made her was to go inside. Kakiku faltered in joining Ashira, for she was still watching Saito with eyes filled with innocent wonderment. But soon she too was past the gate, and Tokio called to sentinel-like Saito,

"Hajime, dinner will be ready soon." She need not to worry about her husband; more probably she should be concerned with the Battousai and his friend. Before she could fully pass through the gate she heard Saito say to the two men with a voice overflowing with coolness and unwelcoming tones,

"I have business to attend to." Then leaving the men baffled with their mouths agape he shut the gate door behind him.

A/N: Hey no questions this time! ANywho, tell me what you think; " hate it" and why or "love it" and why. Thank you.