The moment Isao's aura disappeared from the Kamiya dojo, Kaoru could breathe properly. She ran to the main dojo gates, locking it to make sure he couldn't get in. But witnessing his skills, she knew he could easily get into the dojo if he wanted. He could jump the gates or travel by rooftop. And he was definitely returning to her place to get an answer from her.
Placing her hands on one of the doors to steady herself, Kaoru stared at the main dojo gates before shaking her head. She leaned her forehead against it to hear a tapping sound. Raising her head, she stepped back to suspiciously stare at the doors. The jerking motions startled her and she almost ran in the direction of her room. For once she wished Kenshin and the others were here to protect her.
With a hesitant voice, she called out to whomever was knocking the doors on the other side. At first, she didn't hear any response but there was a firm thumping on the wooden doors to notify her there was indeed someone waiting for her on the other side. Shaky fingers removed the lock and she found herself slowly opening one of the door. She made sure to crack it to see the person who was bothering her.
'Please don't let it be Isao,' she mentally begged. The man's intensity frightened her. But who she saw shocked her and she absolutely wanted to take back her wish. She rather Isao than the man standing outside her home with a cigarette tucked between thin lips and smoke defiling the air around her.
"Saito," she said softly.
"Raccoon girl," he greeted collectedly while tilting his head, but there was a flash of mockery in his golden eyes that made Kaoru's hands itched for her bokken to hit him on his head.
"If you're looking for Himura, he's gone," Kaoru said with a dull and flat tone.
"So you're on a last name basis with Battousai?" Saito asked as he put long and lean fingers against the door. With little strength, he pushed the door open and Kaoru had no choice but to step aside and let him into her home.
"I want to hear nothing about him. Unless you're here on some other business, I expect you to leave," she demanded with a stomp of her foot to clearly emphasize her words.
"No, I'm here on different business," he remarked as his golden eyes began scanning her dojo, taking in the shabbiness of the place. His eyes paused on the inscriptions in the dojo and he shook his head. He removed the cigarette from his mouth and exhaled a large puff of smoke. Kaoru's face scrunched with his action.
"Do you mind? You're smoking is leaving stale air in my home."
"In fact I do. Now, without Battousai, there is no other reason for anyone else to be here." Saito looked down at her from his intimidating height. Kaoru retreated from him, giving him ample space. But the flash of contempt in golden eyes made her feel wary.
Then she stopped herself. The officer was in her home and he couldn't do anything to her without evidence. "I don't need their protection anyway. If you didn't check, I am the assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu," she said while she stood up straight. She assumed he was talking about the rooster head and her young pupil. As for the other people who wandered into her home to ask for Kenshin, no, Himura for his assistance was a different matter.
Saito's lips twisted into a smirk. "What happened? You weren't good enough to hold Battousai's attention?"
If Isao didn't mention something similar during their earlier conversation, Saito's remark would have hurt her. Maybe she was learning to accept the fact that her affections weren't enough to refrain the swordsman from wandering. Sometimes a person who found forgiveness in others couldn't find forgiveness in one self. And the truth was, she forgave Himura for his past because he didn't kill anyone in the present. But she was an innocent. He never took the life of anyone dear to her. Probably the forgiveness he sought were from those his dark actions affected, like Isao.
And Kaoru frowned at where her trail of thought was leading her. Himura wasn't gone for more than a couple of days and she was already having a change of heart. Could she be siding with Isao? She shook her head to clear her mind.
"Did I hit a nerve?" Saito asked, noticing her silence. He pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, dabbed the end of it against his gloved fingers before tossing it on the floor.
"Is that really necessary?" Kaoru returned a question with a question of her own. She sort of had an inkling of an idea why Saito was in her home. He was there to loathe on the fact that Himura and the others weren't around to protect her as she distastefully watched his cigarette littered her yard.
"What will you do?"
"I'll pick it up after you leave," Kaoru returned with a forced smile.
Saito shook his head and scanned the dojo's premises once more. "He may not be around the dojo but that won't stop his nemeses from attacking it." He spun on his heel, reaching into his police uniform jacket to pull out another cigarette. "He left his mark here, that idiot."
He barely said the last words out loud, which had Kaoru wondering if she imagined it. She chose to ignore him as she watched his exit with delight. But he paused mid-step between the dojo gates. "I guess that leaves me to watch over this place."
He astonished her to point she didn't know how to respond. Then he left; his tall frame disappearing into the darkness of the pathway leading to running river and a bridge that would take anyone out of Tokyo. For a moment, Kaoru saw the silhouette of Himura's frame departing from the dojo and she blinked her eyes.
'He chose to leave for his own vendetta,' Kaoru mentally reminded herself. She bent down to pick up the cigarette that Saito carelessly threw on the floor. 'The stupid officer didn't even step on it. My home can catch on fire!'
But it was his casual slip which made Kaoru realize how much she loved her home. Even if the samurai and the others weren't with her anymore, the dojo was her home and she couldn't imagine living without it.
A small smile filtered across her face. She gazed around the dojo with a new appreciation. Her world didn't simply end with the departing of a couple people. And she imagined how proud Megumi would be of her for acting maturely since she didn't have the woman to presently offer her advice.
'Besides, I can't follow Kenshin, no, I mean Himura because he never told me where he was going.' And if by some miracle she decided to pack her stuff and make a trip to wherever he was, he would be upset like he was when she blindly followed him into Kyoto.
She held the end of the cigarette between her fingers, careful as not to touch the lit part. She waved it into the air to see the tip of it flash before dulling. Frowning, she moved the cigarette but the tip was still lit. She dropped the cigarette on the floor and stepped on it with one of her slippers to see the tip was dark. Automatically, she was greeted with small dance of smoke.
'Gosh! How can that insufferable man smoke these things?' she mentally asked herself as she retrieved the disgusting item and took it inside to throw it in the trash.
With nothing else to do, she walked around her home and lit the lamps since it was getting dark outside. She took one lamp and sat on the porch of the dojo while taking a moment to look up into clear and peaceful sky. She inhaled and exhaled a breath as she chewed on her bottom lip. The one thing she was trying to avoid thinking about came back with a vengeance. Isao's question about learning to fight was baffling.
From what she learned about the mysterious man, she still had yet to learn his true objective with teaching her how to wield a sword on Himura's level. What she recalled was he made a promise to someone with taking on a student to teach. Who was the person he made the promise to? And if she learned the swordsmanship, what was she suppose to do with it? Most likely she was going to stay in Tokyo and hopefully move on with her life. She knew she desired one thing in her life; to have her own family.
And her situation was an irony. Himura gave her a family, perhaps one not by blood, but he formed one.
There was a high pitch noise that etched the night's sky and Kaoru found herself standing up and scanning the place around her. The high pitch turned into a wail and she did not hesitate to dash inside the practice room to get one of her bokkens. She dashed to the gates and opened it to be greeted with an empty and dark street. However, there were quick footsteps moving toward her direction. In the brief light from one of the street lamps, Kaoru saw a distressed girl dressed in a gray kimono with a handful of packages run by her. Tagging behind her were four large men jeering at her. Their mocking laughter caused Kaoru to tighten her grip on her weapon. Her facial features contorted to a grim expression.
She didn't think about her next course of action. It came naturally from all the years of kendo training with her father and the fact that she couldn't be a bystander in a dangerous situation. She trailed after the leering laughers. She made distinctive turns in alleyways and swirled around objects, noting in her mind how she followed Yahiko in the backstreets with Himura while spying on him. Only the people who lived in Tokyo all their lives would know the backstreets of the rougher neighborhood.
Finally, she reached her destination as she saw, due to brighter street lamps, four men huddled around a petite form. The girl was quivering from fear, her arms wrapped tightly about some bundles. She backed up against a wall as the foul men called out to her.
"Aw, baby. Where do you think you're running to?" the man with a long black beard asked.
"Why not have a fun night with us? We'll make it worth your while," another man with spiky hair and beefy hands said.
The young girl violently shook her head. She hid her face beneath her precious bundles.
"Don't be like that, babe. We'll show you a good time," the third man teased and stretched his hands to her. The other man wearing strange western clothing simply stayed back to assess the situation.
The girl's eyes widened and she shuffled against the wall to move away from those hands. Kaoru couldn't watch the scene the anymore and dived in between the men. But she wasn't prepared for what happened next. The girl peered at her through messy dark hair and her wrapped packages. Kaoru halted, her body stiffening and her breath catching as the girl who stared back at her was none other than Tsubame.
Yahiko had a tough day since he returned from the Kamiya dojo. One look from Tae told him he looked disheveled and disgruntled. She let him pass by her without asking questions to go and rest in one of the rooms she set aside for Akabeko workers. But Tsubame was the worst one to try and dodge; he didn't know how to lie to her. She was expecting him to return to Akabeko with good news, only he had none to share. How could he tell her he was unwelcomed in the dojo? Could he return there tomorrow with the expectations of continuing to learn the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu?
Swiping a hand through his already messy hair, he sighed. Tomorrow he would try to make amends with his teacher. After all, she lashed on him while she was feeling hurt. However, some of her words rang true and he couldn't help but feel disheartened and remorseful to how he treated her. Kaoru wasn't ugly. He only called her that to get back at her for calling him a child or making him do five hundred swings with his bokken during kendo practice. Although she was a tomboy, he rather have her teach him how to fight rather than Kenshin or Sanosuke. He always felt to be able to fight like them, he had to train like hellhounds were after his heels.
Besides, he was working more hours at Akabeko in the hopes to earn more money and use it to help Kaoru with purchases in the household. He knew how hard she supported him, Kenshin, and Sanosuke after taking them in. Word spread through the Tokyo community how the kendo instructor begged for jobs at the rivaling dojos and how she purposely took other domestic or selling jobs to make more money. He recalled her taking a cleaning job on a ship to earn money. And the mannish side of him was completely against her having to look for other jobs to support them. His father taught him that a man was suppose to be the provider for his family, not the other way around.
He took one step toward the stair when he felt a gaze on him. Turning around, he caught a glimpse of short brown hair before the person shifted into Akabeko's main dining area. He shook his head as he realized that Tsubame saw him. He would have to prepare himself to get a full interrogation from her later.
A small smile crept on his lips while he walked up the remainder of the stairs into one of the available rooms. Tsubame appeared to be timid and shy but she was a completely different person when she was around the people she felt comfortable with. He was shocked when she faced him with a glare on her lovely face for forgetting to serve one of their customers. After that incident, she deemed him unworthy of being a waiter. Instead, she took it upon herself to be a role model waitress.
Another factor which completely baffled him was the relationship she had with her customers. She smiled and greeted them warmly. She had friends who visited during and off working hours. When she dressed with one of her nice kimonos to hang out with her friends, he found he was perplexed that the shy girl had a life outside work.
Again, he shook his head at the brunette girl who took up his mind these days. In a way he considered it was a blessing in disguise that he didn't go with Kenshin, Sanosuke and Megumi to Aizu. If he did, imagine all the time he would miss spending with Tsubame. Sometimes he thought his greatest fear would be to lose his family and her.
'Well, I lost most of my family,' he thought to himself. 'I'm not going to lose her and I have to find some way to apologize to Kaoru because she's the only family member I have left.'
He shut the shoji behind him with his foot and removed his gi with his hands. He flinched at the sight of his wound, noticing how deep the scab looked and the purplish, reddish mark forming around it. He moved to the side of the bed and picked a box with medicine and bandages Megumi left for him. The doctor predicted that he and Kaoru were going to get hurt and since she wasn't going to be there to nurse them to full health, she gave him top notch medical supplies. He was grateful to the doctor, although there were times she could be overbearing, especially where Kenshin was concerned.
Yahiko reached for the bandages. Seeing a bowl of fresh water, he ripped off a piece of bandage and dipped it into the water. He used the wet bandage to wipe away the blotchy blood around his scab. When his wound was cleaned, he carefully wrapped the bandage around his torso. In a way, he felt like he was Sanosuke who was always adorned with bandages.
As he finished the last touches with tying bandage at his waist, there was a rough knock on the shoji. He glanced up and scowled at the darkness creeping into the room. Outside his room, he noticed that Tae lit the lamps for the workers staying the night, only he noticed her outline on the other side of his shoji.
Another rapid of knocks notified him she was waiting for him to address her. "Yes," he said.
"Yahiko, I apologize for bothering you," she said but there was a bit of urgency in her tone.
"It's okay," he assured her. "Is something wrong?"
"I know you're suppose to be on guard duty tonight, but Tsubame left in a rush to go after some customer."
Hearing Tsubame's name made him stand tall. He extended his hand to one of the clean gis that Tsubame usually left him for work. She always kept them on his futon. "Is it one of her regular customers?" he questioned with a rough voice. Was he feeling jealous?
"Yes, it's one of her regular customers but-." Yahiko sensed the hesitancy in her voice.
"But what?"
"She left at such an awkward time of the night. I fear it's not safe for her to travel alone."
He walked to the window and peered out into the darkness. The night's air seemed chilled. The sky was a bit of cloudy but he could make out some of the stars.
"You're right," he agreed with Tae's remark. "Give me a minute."
He put on his gi and tied a firm knot at his waist. When the gi felt secure on his form, he reached for the extra bokken he kept at Akabeko for his nightly jobs. He opened the shoji to see Tae standing to one side. There was concern look on her face.
"I'm fine," he told her. "I will search for her."
"Please make sure she's alright."
He nodded his head and passed his employer. He hurried downstairs and made his way through the group of women filling the kitchen. Automatically, he knew they were the females who worked the night shift at Akabeko. He squeezed himself through them and kept his gaze on the floor to prevent himself from blushing. The waitresses at night were quite attractive but the way they wore their kimonos was considered improper and he didn't want to get any sort of attention from them. Besides, he was a teenager and they were interested in grown up men like Sanosuke.
For a moment, he wondered if Sanosuke missed doing the bodyguard duty in the night. He did mention he got a lot of attention from the waitresses and Megumi bopped him on the head for the stupid remark. But Yahiko knew the doctor didn't like hearing him talk about other women.
Finally, Yahiko made it to the door leading outside and he sighed. There was hardly anyone on the streets, which made him glower. Why would Tsubame rush out into the night with a customer's order? It was so unlike her to travel late at night without his company.
He sauntered into dark streets in search for her.
Elsewhere, three weary travelers stopped in a village called Nikko. They were fortunate enough to get a ride on a wagon due to the fact that the red haired swordsman stopped bandits from robbing a merchant. The merchant was grateful for the assistance and in return he allowed them to travel in his wagon as he made his way to the village that was quickly becoming popular as a mountain resort. The weary travelers got out of the wooden wagon filled with expensive merchandise as the merchant made a stop at an inn.
"Thank you so much," the merchant said as he bowed low to the red haired man.
"This unworthy one is glad to be of help," said the samurai with long red hair tied at the nape of his neck. Unconsciously, he wrapped his fingers around his reverse blade sword to make sure it was at his hip. A cool breeze hit his body and he refrained himself from tugging the two ends of his magenta gi together.
"Thank you," the merchant said again before standing up and beaming at the man. "Tomorrow I pack my last supplies for my trip to Aizu. You and your friends are more than welcome to travel with me." Another breeze swept past the four forms and the merchant clutched a hantan around his form to keep warm. "I will be leaving." The man climbed upon his wagon and seated himself in the driver's section. He pulled at the reins and directed the horses to go straight. With neighs, the horses shook their massive heads and began trotting down the empty street.
"Do you think it's a good idea to let him go without any protection?" the tall man wearing white clothes with the sign of bad of his back asked.
"I think we have enough journeying for one day, Sanosuke," the elegant woman answered him. She rubbed her hands along her arms covered by the long sleeves of her kimono. Apparently the cool winds were getting through the tough material of her kimono and haori. She glanced at the samurai who seemed too quiet all of a sudden. "Sir Ken, what do you think?"
The samurai kept his eyes hidden behind the veil of red bangs. He didn't respond to the woman's question.
"Kenshin?" Sanosuke moved to stand next to him while he eyed the road. Somehow he knew Kenshin's act meant he sensed something dangerous.
The smaller man's body stiffened with alert before he raised his head. A pleasant wanderer's smile overtook his grim facial features. "This unworthy one agree with Ms. Megumi, that I do."
"You see you rooster head," Megumi affirmed before she turned her back on the males and headed inside the warm inn. Sanosuke grumbled something unintelligible under his breath but he didn't make any moves to follow the doctor. Instead he stayed by Kenshin's side.
"Is everything alright?" he questioned his friend.
Kenshin didn't answer.
"Come on. We both know when you become serious, you sense something bad is about to happen."
"Ah," the smaller man replied. "This unworthy one has a bad feeling."
"About the merchant's wagon?" Sanosuke asked as he crossed his large arms over his broad chest.
"No." Kenshin paused before tilting his head to look at the stars. "Something bad is taking place in Tokyo."
Sanosuke let out a breath. "You're worried about missy."
"This unworthy one can't help but feel like I'm making a mistake but it can be just my guilt."
Sanosuke uncrossed his arms and slapped Kenshin on the back. "Don't worry. We both know missy is strong."
Kenshin hesitated before he smiled. "You're right," he finally said.
"That's the spirit. Now let's get out of the cold," Sanosuke said. He waited for Kenshin to walk by him. He looked up into dark sky and whispered words he hoped that Kenshin didn't hear. "I hope you're okay, missy."
Well, here the third chapter ends. I don't know how it came out but I hope it's written okay. Since school began, my schedule has been difficult so I can't exactly say when to expect a new chapter. The best time to check will be October 20. I hope to have a chapter or two updated by then.
Once again, thank you readers for reading. And most of all, thank you readers for reviewing, and adding this story to your favorite's or follow's list. And for those who review, I make it a habit to always reply back unless it's an anonymous. Those reviews are hard to respond too.
Please comment.