Chapter Two:
The Meeting in the Woods
As Hoshiko and Shintai continued towards Kyoto, Shintai heard a branch breaking. He drew his sword as Hoshiko ran and hid.
"Who's there!" demanded Shintai as he heard more branches breaking.
"I am known as Sanosuke." said a tall man with spiky brown hair, "Who are you?"
"I am Shintai, and this girl is Hoshiko." Shintai said as Hoshiko came out from hiding.
"Now why are you two kids in these woods?" asked Sanosuke as he looked at the white haired, black eyed, and kind of muscular 16-year-old boy.
"We are looking for the village Kyoto." said Hoshiko.
"And we are not KIDS!" added Shintai.
"Well I'm heading back there after a friend of mine told me to check out a village that was recently destroyed. I heard two people following me and I hid and then I saw you two. Were you from that village?" asked Sanosuke while he looked at Shintai.
"Yes we are. We were fishing and then when we got back, the village was in ruins." Shintai said as he re-sheathed his sword, "We are going to see my half-brother."
"Who is your half-brother?" Sanosuke asked as he walked past Shintai and Hoshiko.
"My half-brother is Kenshin." said Shintai as he started following Sanosuke.
"HA HA HA HA HA! Yeah sure and Hoshiko is my cousin!" said Sanosuke when he heard Shintai's answer.
"Well actually Sanosuke, I am." Hoshiko said.
"The hell you are! My grandmother said I didn't have any cousins!" yelled Sanosuke.
"Was your grandmother named Katana?" asked Hoshiko.
"HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW MY GRAMDMOTHER'S NAME!" yelled Sanosuke.
"I was staying with her after my father died and then a woman came and asked us to take care of Shintai." answered Hoshiko as she caught up to the two boys.
"Ok that question was answered, now I want to know how Shintai and Kenshin are related." said Sanosuke as the small group kept walking.
"Well Kenshin and Shintai both had the same father, but their mothers were very different. Kenshin's mother was human, and Shintai's mother was a demon." explained Hoshiko as Shintai went further ahead of Sanosuke and Hoshiko.
"Oh now I see. So that's how Kenshin and Shintai are related. Does Kenshin know?" Sanosuke asked as he and Hoshiko caught up to Shintai.
"Yes Kenshin knows, but he doesn't know who his brother is. He only knows Shintai's past." answered Hoshiko.
"Yeah and that's why we want to go to Kyoto. I want to meet my half-brother and learn about my past." added Shintai while they kept walking.
"Did you two see who destroyed your village at all?" asked Sanosuke.
"No but I did see two sets of tracks heading this way so I think the ones who did it are heading to Kyoto." replied Shintai.
"Yeah I saw the tracks too. They were going through the trees and avoiding the roads." Sanosuke added in.
"Well we better keep going." Hoshiko said.
The group kept walking and then they came to a clearing. They decided to make a camp because it was growing dark. Shintai looked around at the place.
"Well I can't clear rocks when there aren't any of the damn things." Shintai said while he looked for rocks.
"Well then you got the easy job." said Sanosuke, "I'm stuck getting firewood. And Hoshiko won't let me stop until I gather every piece in this whole god damn clearing."
"Ha ha ha. Well at least I can help you." Shintai said as he picked up pieces of wood.
"Thank you Shintai." said Sanosuke.
"Hey Hoshiko, what are you going to do?" asked Sanosuke.
"I think I will find food." Hoshiko said as she went into the trees.
"And after we get the pieces of wood, we'll set up the tent. Ok?" asked Shintai.
"Ok. I'll be right back." answered Hoshiko.
Hoshiko came back after a few minutes and saw everything done.
"Wow you two worked fast." Hoshiko said as she looked at Sanosuke and Shintai.
"Yeah. We just kept working hard." said Sanosuke.
"And we had help from her" added Shintai as he pointed at another girl.
"Her name is Megumi." said Sanosuke, "She is a friend of me and Kenshin."
"And she was nice enough to help us out, and she also said that Kyoto is only a few miles away." added Shintai.
"Yeah. Kenshin thought that Sanosuke was taking a long time so I told him I'll look for Sanosuke." said Megumi.
"Well Kenshin thinks I'm fast." said Sanosuke as he looked at the young, beautiful Hoshiko.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Hoshiko.
"Like what?" asked Sanosuke.
"Your looking at me like your imagining me not being your cousin and…….." answered Hoshiko.
"NO I'M NOT!" yelled Sanosuke.
"Yes you are Sanosuke." said Megumi
"AM NOT MEGUMI!" yelled Sanosuke as he got ready to punch Megumi.
"You would never punch me Sanosuke." Megumi said calmly.
"DAMN IT! YOU KNOW ME TOO WELL!" yelled Sanosuke as he turned away.
"Do you two always fight like this?" asked Shintai.
"No…..Not really…..Yes" answered Megumi and Sanosuke.
"Wow I never would have thought." said Hoshiko sarcastically.
"So your Sanosuke's cousin Hoshiko, right?" asked Megumi.
"Yes." answered Hoshiko as she turned towards Megumi.
"Well we better get some sleep before we continue." said Shintai.
"Yeah. Good Night." said Megumi and Hoshiko.
"Good night." said Sanosuke and Shintai as the drifted off to sleep.
"I never knew they were so tired." said Hoshiko.
"Well Sanosuke can get really tired." said Megumi.
"Well we better sleep." said Hoshiko as she laid down.
"Yeah. Good night Hoshiko." said Megumi.
"Good night Megumi." said Hoshiko as both her and Megumi drifted off to sleep.