Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.
Story
Saya's brown eyes were slowly closing, it had almost been a hour since she sat waiting on the docks for the boat from Tokyo. She knew she had to stay awake, although her small 11 year old body had never stayed up this late before. She sank laying down on the bench, she could barely keep her eyes opened. She was shivering because of the unusual cold, and wrapped herself in her obi as best she could. At one last look to the docks, she could make out five figures walking closer to her. Her eyes refused her to stay up, almost like they had heavy stone on them, they closed and Saya breathed in a small pace. Chiyo smiled and reached her bandaged hand to touch Saya's face.
"She is so small," said Chiyo. "Her body isn't used to pulling an all-nighter."
"She looks just about Yahiko's age!" said Kaoru. Yahiko looked at the sleeping Saya, and blushed a little.
"She's pretty cute." he thought to himself.
Saya's hair was long enough to bury a grown man in, all of it was a shimmering black, with blue looking glow to it. Her soft face depicted that of a small child, but in the sharpness of her chin suggested that she was a bit older. Chiyo kneeled on the ground in front of Saya's face, and brushed the hair from her face. "I can remember the first day I saw her..."
"Master Seikei?" asked Chiyo, she looked at the small girl that was in Seikei's arms. Her black hair was covered with dirt and mud, and the smell of blood lingered on her face and body. Her eyes where closed, almost as if she was sleeping.
"Take this girl and get her to the doctor." said Seikei. He put the girl in Chiyo's arms and went to go to the bath, to get the blood off his body.
Chiyo had a hard time trying to walk and carry this girl, though she looked small she weighed many, many pounds. Chiyo almost lost her footing while trying to go to the doctors room. Seikei had his own private doctor to take care of his wounds, for all the other doctors refused to treat a murderer. Chiyo kicked the door with her foot, and the doctor quickly rushed to open it.
"Master Seikei asked me to bring her here." said Chiyo. The doctor nodded and took the heavy girl off of Chiyo's hands. "Get her a bath too, she smells of blood." Chiyo closed the door behind her, and went to her room, to change out of her kimono and into her cotton robe used for bathing, called a bathing dress.
When Chiyo got to the bath house, she took her normal seat behind Seikei, who was naked in the water below her. Her stuck her feet in the water, which was somewhat yellow because of the blood on Seikei's body. The bath house was huge, with two separate sides; one for the men, and one for the women. The baths themselfs weren't made of wood, like most normal Japanese baths, this bath was basically a square made of marble. The water ran right down from the stream and passed through many pipes in order for it to get hot enough to bath in. When the water became to dirty, you would pull a drain "plug" from the bottom of the bath, and the water would be dumped into a ravine that would open to the ocean. For the two the separate baths, there were two separate plugs.
"Who was that small girl?" asked Chiyo. She leaned down and began to rub Seikei's back with soft soap. Washing each others backs was usually done by married couples but, Chiyo never really thought much of it.
"She was the daughter of the Shogun man I just killed." he said calmly, but with a hint of anger in his voice.
"Master Seikei, why did you take her in?" asked Chiyo, she brought a cloth up and washed away the soap from his back.
"She had no where to go... plus," Seikei turned around and looked at Chiyo, he smiled. Chiyo couldn't help but smile as well, there was nothing better than to see him smile. "I think you would do well as her Sensei." Chiyo dropped the cloth in the water, and scrabbled to pick it up.
"Master Seikei, I can't be her Sensei. What would I teach her?"
"How to be a woman. How to be polite. How to be... the woman of Japan." Seikei motioned her to turn around, and to take off her bathing dress. Chiyo let the dress down to the low part of her back. Seikei took some soap gingerly and started to work his hands on her back. "I know she can learn from you."
"Master..." Chiyo put her hand on Seikei's to stop him from cleaning her. "I don't know what I can teach her, but I'll try... just," Chiyo stopped herself for a second, she didn't want to insult him.
"You wonder why I take pity on her?" asked Seikei. He moved her hand away from her back, and softly began making his way to her upper back, this was the most beautiful place on a woman, just as a man would look at a woman leg, the same is true for her upper back. "At first I wanted to kill her, stop the Shogun blood from flowing in someone else," Chiyo froze. He wanted to kill an innocent girl, she didn't even hurt him. Seikei chuckled and put his lips to Chiyo's upper back. "But then, I thought about your face when I told you that I killed a small girl. You would probably slap me and leave this place forever."
"What is her name?" asked Chiyo.
"I don't know, but I named her: Saya."
"Saya."
Saya opened her eyes at the sound of Chiyo's voice, and saw Chiyo's soft face.
"Sensei Chiyo!" yelled Saya. She jumped right up and hugged Chiyo around the neck. "I thought you wouldn't come back."
"I'll always come back, as long as there is something to come back too." laughed Chiyo. Saya unlocked herself from Chiyo and looked at the Kenshin-gumi.
"Is this...?"
"Yes." Chiyo went behind Saya and put her hands on her shoulders. "Everyone this is Saya. My apprentice." Saya got down in front of Sanosuke and bowed deep.
"I am honored to be in your presents, Sir Battousai." said Saya.
"Heh, you got the wrong idea Saya." said Sanosuke waving her off with his hand.
"So..." Saya looked at Kenshin. "The Strawberry lookingman is Battousai?"
"Oro..." said Kenshin. "Do I really look like a Strawberry?" Saya started laughing with a gut busting laugh. Then she covered her mouth and fell to the floor, with a deep bow.
"I'm sorry for laughing Sir Strawberry, but..." Saya chuckled a small amount. "That is a funny word. Oro." Saya caught wind of what was going on, and kept her head to the ground. "Please don't kill me."
Kenshin was about to say something, when a bandaged hand came out from nowhere and slapped Saya across the head. Everyone looked in awe as Chiyo dropped her hand, and Saya's eyes began to fill with tears.
"Saya! How rude! How dare you say such a thing! Asking for him to spare your life! You are nothing more than a weakling if you say that!" This was a new side to Chiyo that nobody had seen before. "Why would someone with noble samurai blood even think about killing someone just by laughing at them. You should think before you speak!"
"I'm sorry Sensei Chiyo." said Saya.
"You shouldn't be apologizing to me, you should be saying it to Himura-san."
"I'm sorry Himura-san, please forgive me." said Saya.
"I wouldn't kill you, that I wouldn't. Please don't apologize on my behave." said Kenshin.
"Anyway Sensei Chiyo..." Saya brushed off Kenshin as if he were a small speck of dust.
"Hey! He was talking to you!" yelled Kaoru. Saya looked at Kaoru with surprise, almost as if she didn't notice she was there until now.
"Father won't be pleased." said Saya. "You were only suppose to bring Sir Strawberry with you."
"I know that better than you do, Saya." said Chiyo. She held up her hand and put it to her face in embarrassment.
"Sensei, your arms..." Saya took Chiyo's arm and looked at the wounds. "These are rope burns." she paused. "Rope burns..." she looked toward Kenshin. "I see he didn't waste anytime when Father said 'enjoy'."
"OROROROROROROOO!"
"What are you talking about! Kenshin would never do something like that!" yelled Kaoru.
"Those rope burns were from some guys who wanted to hurt her!" yelled Yahiko.
"Even so... Kenshin wouldn't be the type of guy to do that to a girl, even if the letter did say 'enjoy'. He would think of someway that wouldn't hurt her as much." said Sanosuke.
"Your not helping Sano!" yelled Kenshin, who was still in shock.
"Father will not be pleased." Saya put down Chiyo's kimono sleeve. "I am going to say this once, and once only. Father promised that he would not lay a hand on Sir Strawberry, but..." Saya walked up to them as if to keep it a secret. "If you even trip Chiyo, he'll kill her." Saya pointed to Kaoru, who was shocked at this news. "And make you watch. Please don't do anything that might even give him the slightest thought that you harmed her."
"Saya..." said Chiyo. Chiyo knew that there would be no hesitation when it came to any of them, but why did they have to be told like that? "It must be past 12? What are we going to do? Master Seikei will not let us in this late."
"I made arrangements for a inn," said Saya. She glared at the Kenshin-gumi. "But it was only suppose to be for three. Looks like we have to add to Sayuri's tab."
"Are you sure...?"
"Yep! I'm sure Sayuri won't mind a bit." Saya took Chiyo's bandaged hand and led her to the way of the inn. "Let's go Sensei! I want to get there and sleep so we can home to Father!"
"Saya-dono, why do you call Seikei-kun Father?" asked Kenshin. "He certainly can't be your real Father, he is too young, that he is."
"Well..." said Saya. "He said that my real Father was weak, and didn't deserve someone like me. He said that my real Father would have cast me aside, like his Father did. That he wouldn't love me, that he would beat me. But Father, he says he'll take care of me until the day I die." Saya smiled. "He says that I am his child, and that one day Chiyo will be more than my Sensei."
"Saya!" Chiyo clapped her hands over Saya's mouth and did some fake laughing to cover it up. "What is the inn that we are staying at!"
"It's a cool place called the 'Aoi-ya'." said Saya. The Kenshin-gumi froze.
"It is a small world after all, isn't it?" asked Kenshin.
"Looks like we are going to see Misao-chan!" said Kaoru.
"Weasel girl will be happy to see us." said Sanosuke, not that shocked.
"Like I said! Good to see a familiar face." said Yahiko.
"You know the Aoi-ya people?" asked Chiyo. "Sayuri and I have many parties there."
"I would have thought that Seikei-kun would never let you out of the house." said Yahiko.
"Only when Sayuri is with me." laughed Chiyo, and Saya chuckled.
"I wonder what they are laughing about?" asked Kaoru.
Aoi-ya was coming up fast around the corner, and almost everyone was moving fast. Saya was pulling Chiyo by her hand to hurry up and everyone was trying to catch up to her. They were running out of breath, it was very early in the morning, about 1 am. Saya was beginning to get tired again, but Chiyo kept her going. Omasu was standing outside the Aoi-ya for some reason unknown, when her eyes spotted six people sprinting towards her as fast as they could. Though it was dark she could see Kenshin's red hair stick out like a sore thumb (Saya: I call him Sir Strawberry for a reason! Kenshin: Must you call me Sir Strawberry?).
"Okina! Okina! Misao!" yelled Omasu into the Aoi-ya. The two came running down stairs. The old man with the frosty white beard and the young looking 16 year old ninja busted the door trying to get outside.
"What was that for Gramps!" yelled Misao. "I could have opened the door!"
"But Omasu called me first! Naturally I would have to open the door first." said Okina, as if he was the most brilliant.
"Misao-chan, you ought to learn to be more womanly than that." said Chiyo, unfolding the fan from her face. "It's been so long!"
"Chiyo-san! And Saya-kun!" yelled Misao. She jumped right on Chiyo to try and hug her, but caught a glimpse of Kaoru and Kenshin. "You guys!"
"Misao-chan! It's good to see you again." said Kaoru, lively like.
"Misao-dono, you seem to know Chiyo-dono and Saya-dono, is that true?" asked Kenshin.
"Oh yeah! Whenever Chiyo is around we get a lot of customers coming in from all over!" said Misao.
"Not to mention the fact that she is a lively beauty to keep me in check." said Okina. Chiyo slapped him with the fan she was holding.
"Please keep it in your pants." said Chiyo. "By the way Misao, how is Lord Aoshi doing?"
"Just...just fine..." Misao blushed a little. "I am going to make him smile someday! I know I will!" Misao made a prideful stance.
"Not if you keep that up." laughed Saya. A cold slap followed her remark, so much that a red bump appeared on her head. "We have to add Sir Strawberry (Kenshin prat fell on the ground and his head hit a rock. It started bleeding, Kaoru and Omasu tried to stop the blood.) And the others to Sayuri's bill."
"Oh now?" asked Okina. "Why isn't she here tonight herself?"
"She has something that keeps her away at the time." said Chiyo. "But Misao... you know what we need, yeah?" Misao finally broke from her stance and joined in a chime with Chiyo. "SAKE!" the pair walked into the inn, as everyone stared in shock (Except for kenshin, who was on the ground bleeding).
Chiyo hiccuped and almost dropped her sake bottle, but kept a firm hold on it. Her vison was dazed as she was trying to focus on Kaoru in front of her talking. She and Kaoru both drank almost five bottles of sake that Misao brought, Saya as soon as she touched the floor passed out in sleep. Kenshin felt it necessary to stay awake (well... he was forced to stay awake by Kaoru and Chiyo), while the two women had sake. Sanosuke was trying to beat Chiyo in a drinking game and lost.
"Now!" yelled Chiyo. "It is time for... duh duh duh! Another drinking game!"
"Chiyo-dono, don't you think you have had enough?" asked Kenshin. Chiyo threw a empty bottle of sake at Kenshin's head and missed, but threw some fruit that they were given and got him.
"Shhhh!" yelled Chiyo. "The game is 'Love or Money'."
"I don't think I ever heard of that!" yelled Kaoru.
"Well it is simple." said Chiyo. I give you two choices, Love or Money and everyone has to guess which one you would choose. The losers, well... DRINK!" Chiyo poured herself another glass of sake. "I'll go first! Himura-san!" Kenshin cringed, and almost gaged on his sake. "I was standing on the other side of the room. You thought I was the most beautiful thing in the room, would you come to me because you wanted to know more about me? Or because I am the heiress to millions?"
"Well I think he would pick more about her!" yelled Sanosuke.
"I think he wouldn't pick her!" yelled Kaoru.
"You take a drink Kaoru-san that's not a choice!" said Chiyo. "Sooooo Himura-san! Which is it?"
"It would have to be to get to know you because how else would I know that you were an heiress?" said Kenshin, hoping that would get him off of the hook.
"Good show Himura-san! Everyone gets a drink!" Chiyo took a big gulp of her sake and gasped a little.
"Now Chiyo-dono," said Kenshin.
"First let me refill your sake glass, Himura-san." There was something different in Chiyo's voice that time. She lifted her sleeve at the slightest angle so that Kenshin could see a small glimpse of her wrist. It was pale and slender, Kenshin blushed and Chiyo snickered. "Himura-san... you... PERVERT!" Chiyo raised the sake glass and began to hit Kenshin over the head with it. "Why were you blushing when I moved my sleeve, and showed you my wrist!"
"You...you... showed him your wrist!" yelled Kaoru, pointing a finger at Chiyo. "How could you!" Kaoru threw a sake bottle at Chiyo, Chiyo dodged it and threw something at Kaoru.
"He is a swordsman afterall!" yelled Chiyo. "And because you don't give him any!"
"I'll beat you so hard!" yelled Kaoru, she chased Chiyo around the room and Chiyo chased Kenshin trying to beat him, Sanosuke was on the floor laughing so loud it was a wonder how Saya and Yahiko slept. Suddenly the door opened with a burst, everyone stopped and looked at the figure standing at the door.
She was one of the most beautiful girls Kenshin had ever seen. Her hair was done in a light ponytail, her black hair was so long it touched the tip of her butt. She was wearing a very nice kimono, the design was Kyoto in the sunset, and it was very unique. Her eyes were a very unusual color, like brown and green mixed together. She had soft skin and looked very much like a girl. She stared at Chiyo with her mouth gaped open, and then her eyes went to Kenshin.
"What about Seikei-san, Chiyo?" asked this girl, her voice was somewhat wavy, almost as if she was going to cry.
"We are just playing a game Sayuri-chan, that is all." said Chiyo. "Himura-san just blushed when I showed him my wrist." Sayuri's mood seemed to change when she heard this, from one of sadness to one of extreme jest. She bust out a loud laugh.
"I see Seikei-san needs to keep a closer eye on you." said Sayuri. She dropped her back and looked at Kenshin and Sanosuke. "I am Sayuri," she smiled and she looked beautiful. "And I want to join in on this party!"
Sayuri grabbed a bottle of sake and started to drink her mind out. Chiyo stopped chasing Kenshin and Kaoru wanted to still kill Chiyo but stopped as well. Sanosuke was having fun watching Kenshin get beat up by girls but, now his attention was on the pretty Sayuri. Kaoru was leaving Kenshin's side and Chiyo wasn't leaving Sayuri's side, Kenshin noticed how much her mood changed when Sayuri came in.
"Why don't we play a game that I heard about?" asked Sayuri.
"Which one is it!" asked Chiyo.
"'Are you nervous?'" Chiyo walked over to Sanosuke, and sat down next to him. She must of noticed that he was looking at her. "Why don't you go first?"
"I don't know the rules." said Sanosuke.
"It's simple." Sayuri put down her drink and looked at Sanosuke. "I will touch you someplace, like here," Sayuri touched Sanosuke's chest, he quivered, her hand was warm on his chest. "I ask you if your nervous."
"Not really..." said Sanosuke. Sayuri took a big drink of sake.
"That is how it works." said Sayuri. She moved her hand lower on his chest, almost onto his stomach. "Are you nervous?"
"Sayuri-chan you shouldn't play that game with him." said Chiyo.
"I'll play it with whomever I want." said Sayuri. "So are you nervous?"
"No..." said Sanosuke, he still didn't see the point of this game. Sayuri took another drink of sake. Sayuri moved her hand lower onto Sanosuke's body, on his stomach.
"Are you nervous?"
"Not yet, it takes a lot to get me nervous."
"Oh then..." said Sayuri, something changed in her voice, like somewhat of a vixen tint in it. She took her hand away from Sanosuke. "Does this make you nervous?" Sayuri walked right over to Chiyo, and touched her right breast. Kenshin, Kaoru and Sanosuke's eyes went right out of their heads. Just when they thought it couldn't get any worse, Sayuri leaned in and planted a kiss right on Chiyo's lips. Kaoru swore up and down that a tongue had slipped between the two girls. The Kenshin-gumi (minus Yahiko) stared at Sayuri and Chiyo, who wasn't resisting at all.
"How would Seikei-chan react to this?" asked Kenshin to himself.
To be continued in Chapter 5.