Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Hey there all, Arganaut here again, with the latest chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper. Anyway last chapter, a new crossover character, Sanosuke Sagara, into the ever growing cast of Love Hina. Now then, there is a little something I want to ask you all a little something...

WHO SHOULD SANO BE PAIRED UP WITH!!??

Kitsune-

Mutsumi-

Or anyone else that is close to their age besides Naru-

Who you pick here, will be a step towards who Kenshin will ultimately be paired up with, and yes, despite the MoxKenshin I showed last chapter Kenshin's pairing is still undecided for comedic purposes, besides I also showed some ShinxKenshin two chapters ago, and I'm already planning arcs for the other characters as given to me by the manga. Oh, and here are the results of the polls so far;

Kitsune- 2

Mutsumi- 0

Kitsune has pulled ahead into the lead by one vote.

Anyway, onto the reviews;

Infinite Freedom- Well Sano will be hanging around Hinata Sou... but how he'll end up there... you'll just have to wait and see.

manevan- Well I have put your vote in, and thank you for voting so early.

charles ho- Well my battles do tend to become very intense my friend. But like I said before, the MoxKenshin relationship is not set in stone yet, do not forget that I have taken the first step in a ShinXKenshin relationship as well. And there will be other characters coming soon. One of our little favorites might be coming sooner than you think.

Raenef the 6th- Well then you'll definetly want to read this chapter to answer that question.

ftayao- I already said he learnt those moves (remember to recieve the title 'Hiko Seijuro' you have to master those two moves). And later I will, but for now this is good. And I already messenged you on that.

Malicieu- Thank you for the huge compliment sir, and I am honored that you would think my story should be story of the month. It is a huge compliment, and like I said before, I thank you for it.

paintball-gamer- Well thanks for voting, and trust me, I will continue all of my stories, not matter what.

Well, with all of the reviews to the side, I think its time that I make one more anouncment... SANO POV HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE STORY! So now, please enjoy the next thrilling chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper.

Chapter 8: The Man With His World On His Shoulders

Sano POV

Most people's earliest memories usually are of themselves as children, playing with their brothers and sisters, and even hanging out with their mother and father. My earliest memory... was being sent away from them. My family was a very poor family, never having more than enough money to pay the bills and to pay for food. I was the oldest of two children, my only sibling being my little sister, Uki, who adored me. The reason my earliest memory was being sent away was that my mother had become pregnant with a third child.

Everyone in the family knew that we could not afford to feed another member of the family, so my parents had me placed in foster care, forcing me to leave the little sister I had loved so very much. I had been moved to Nara, where I stayed for a time, living with my foster family in peace. Well that only lasted until I joined the infamous Yakuza, a 'organized crime' gang in Japan. This is where I met my friend Katsuhiro Tsukioka, and the man who would become a father figure to me, Sozo Sagara, whose family name I would take after a few years.

Sozo was the 'leader' of our particular section of the Yakuza, he was a man who conducted buisness well. But eventually I left that life, those foster parents, and the city of Nara behind after Sozo was killed during a raid on a particular drug ring, who had not paid us what they owed. During our raid the police barged in on us, killing any druggie, or Yakuza thug they could see. Sozo got Katsuhiro and I out of their in time, but he was killed in the process. After that Katsushiro and I agreed that we should get the hell out of Nara, and out of this buisness.

I went back home, to my family, only to find that we weren't too much of a family any more. My mother, who had treated me very well in the time I was with her, had died shortly after giving birth to my little brother. My father... that god damned bastard, just dropped after that, he stopped working, he stopped doing anything for the family. My little sister, who I had loved, and who had adored me, was being forced to work job after job just to make end's meat. And the third member of the family, who had been named Outa, was put into another foster family by my sister.

"He deserved more than this life." My sister had told me as I watched her wash the dishes the first night I had come back. He had been sent out of the country, suprisingly, to North Korea, South Korea border, where I now assume him to be dead, with the confilct that still goes on there to this day. I had left that house, and my family after that day, I could not bare to be a son to that ing slobbish excuse for a man. After I left I tried to go straight, find a good job and earn some honest money. But that ideal was squashed when I could not get a job, due to my lack of education, and the fact that many people were put off by my size.

It was then I became part of the Yakuza once more, taking on the job of a hitman. I had killed many men, growing stronger with each fight, with each kill, and each day I trained. On one of these particular assignments I gained my Zanbato, a weapon I still use to this day. I was very famous among the Yakuza as a hitman. I could commit a murder on my own, without any help, which made it almost impossible for the police to track me down, after all, no snitch, no one squeals, use gloves, no fingerprints, no way the cops can find me.

I remember my most famous hit to date. I was ordered to kill these two drug runners who weren't quite paying what they owed, this time, as most always during this time, there was no chance for the police to get involved. I got there and I killed the guards surrounding the two with my gloved hands, I usually saved my Zanbato for the ones I'm supposed to kill. After I killed the last guard, I caught my two targets and tied them up and gagged them. I then proceeded to hack the first one to death with my Zanbato. I went to finish the other one, only to find that he went through a shock convulsion, and choked to death on the gag I used on him. (I dare you to tell me where I got this famous kill from)

I was one of the most famous hitmen in the Yakuza, I was often called Zanba, after the Zanbato I used to kill my victims. But.. alas I was also quite famous within the police ranks, and I was caught by the police during a secret undercover operation, a cop had pretended to be the man I was ordered to kill, and I was caught in the act... apparently one of the Yakuza who hired me got caught and got a bit of a bargain... anyway I was kept in jail for one week. Why so short a time you ask? Well that was before my long time friend, Katsuhiro, who had become quite adept at building explosives for Japan's construction and military technology, blew me out of jail, freeing me.

After that I changed my last name to Sagara, knowing full well that if I kept my father's name I would be very much easier to track down. I then fled to Hinata City, where I opened up a dojo with what little of the 'dirty' money I had left. Alas, this buisness venture did not go over so well either, as it seemed that no one in this city had any interest in learning to fight. So I stayed in that dojo, making ends meat through the occasional person who thought they could handle my lessons, as well as a few other odd jobs. During that time I had not only become even stronger, but I also developed my own style of close-combat.

My name now is Sanosuke Sagara, I am 24 years old...

Today started off as an aweful day for me. When I woke up this morning there was instantly a call coming from the telephone, and when I picked up the phone to answer it I immediately got news that I did not like at all. The bank was planning on shutting me down, kicking me out, for I had not made a payment, or completed one of the many payments, for that matter, for quite sometime. I could not afford to be evicted, not only did I not have enough money to get out of this city, but also I would rather die than beg my little sister, or that bastard, for money. I needed money and fast, but the odd jobs I normally did were no longer around. I was just about to 'get the match and gasoline' before I heard someone walking into my dojo.

I went outside to see this pint-sized, red head kid, of about fifteen if I had to guess, standing in front of me wearing some old traditional clothes, as well as a katana on his hip. "Who are you?" I asked, trying to sound as intimidating as I possibly could. I could see the kid swallowing a lump in his throat as he answered.

"My name is Kenshin Himura, and I wish to enroll in your dojo, may I ask who you are?" The kid asked me as I stepped foward, and watched as his eyes went wide at my very powerful physique.

Maybe today was just starting to get a little better. "Well as for if you can enter my dojo, yeah as long as you can pay me... as for my name..." I said as I combed my hand through my hair. "Is Sanosuke Sagara, and don't you forget it." I said with a cocky undertone as he stared in awe at me.

Kenshin POV

I stare in awe at the man known as Sanosuke that stood in front of me. I have never seen a japanese man with as many muscles as him, save for my father and his friend. I continued staring before I realized that he had accepted me as his student. I stood straight and then bowed in front of him. "Thank you Sagara-san, I will do my best as your student to learn your lessons, no matter how hard they may be." I said as he suddenly chuckled and I looked up at him.

"You sure you wanna make that kind of promise kid?" He asked as I nodded and he sighed while shaking his head. "Okay then, the tuition is 11,800 yen (about 100 U.S. dollars)." He said as my jaw dropped.

"11,800 yen, that's robbery!" I shouted as he shrugged.

"Do you want me to teach you or not?" He said as I grummbled, reached into my pouch, and pulled out 5,000 yen. He counted the money and when he was satisfied he put it in his pocket. "Alright then follow me into my weight room then." He said as I raised my eyebrow and he walked through a door that was opposite of the room he came in from. I watched for a moment before following him into the room... what I saw made my jaw drop. In the room were several sets of bars and dumbbells, each one with several weights on them, so many that they were all bent at the middle.

I stared as he lifted up one dumbbell with ease, that had at least five 25 pound weights on each side. He threw the weight into my arms and I caught it... before dropping to the ground because of the immense weight of it. I looked up at him with an look of 'are you insane' before speaking. "Are you insane?! There's..." I said as I began standing. "No..." I said as I got up on both feet and began pulling on the weight till I turned purple. "Way I'm going to be able to lift this thing!" I said as I struggled to get the weight up to chest level.

"Hmmm..." He said as he looked at me with his finger on his chin. "You're right." He said as he reached towards the dumbell, on took off one 25 pound weight on each side. "There you go, now work with that." He said as I just stared at him. "I want fifty regular curls with each arm, then I want you to do fifty uppercut punches with each arm fifty times." He said as I looked at him with widened eyes.

"You can't be serious... can you?" I asked as he looked at me with stern eyes.

"I'm dead serious, now get to work you slacker." Sanosuke said as he left me in the weight room. Not being one to just disobey a direct order, especially from someone who could beat me to a pulp, I began doing what he asked me to do, despite the amazing weight that was on these dumbbells I was sure that I could do them, at least pretty well... oh boy. It was about a half-hour later when Sanosuke returned, he laughed as he watched me with my hands at my sides, struggling to bring them up to punch with the weights.

"Fi---ft---y... ugh!" I gasped as I dropped the weights down beside me and my arms hanged loose beside my body. My arms felt like spaghetti noodles, so stringy and weak. I looked at Sanosuke with a, what I hoped to be, exhausted look, as he smirked at me. "You know, most people would think it cynical of someone to enjoy watching someone go through that..." I said as his smirked widened even more, making him look even more intimidating.

"You know you're not the first one to say that." He said as I raised an eyebrow. "I must've had at least twenty people come through here, thinking they had what it took to go through my training program. They all stayed till the end, but never came back the next day, or the day after that, or so on and so forth." Sanosuke said as I stared at him a little bit. "Anyway I don't expect you to be any different. I expect you to go back to wherever you came from, and forget that my place ever even was." He said, making my eyes slightly widen from insult. "Anyway, you're at least going to finish the rest of the day so come on, we're going outside." Sanosuke said as I followed him outside.

We walked outside, and he pointed towards two concrete blocks with a bunch of straps at the bottom. I looked at him and he pointed to the blocks again. I sighed as I walked over, took off my sandals, and stood on top of the blocks... that's when he rushed over, and strapped my feet so tight that not only could I not feel the blood circulating in my feet, and I could not slip out of them. He then walked over to some concrete blocks that were at least one and a half times the size of my blocks, and strapped himself in.

"Well, come on, we have to go around the block." He said as I sighed a sigh of relief. "Twice." He said as I muttered a curse under my breath as he took off at a brisk running pace. I tried to run as well... but found myself unable to move the incredibly heavy blocks. I stood there, struggling for several minutes before dragging one of the blocks an inch. Picking up on that momentum I began dragging each block a few inches at a time, trying to get caught up with him. "You're just getting started?" He said as I looked behind me to see him coming around the corner. "I'm on my second lap." He said as he ran past, leaving me to struggle just to move.

Sano POV

I finished finished my second lap in about one-half hour, the weight I was using weren't heavy, at all. I took off my weights off of my feet and sat there, waiting for the guy, Kenshin, to come back around. I saw him coming back around, to finish his first lap. I sighed as I prepared to tell him to stop... he kept on going. I hadn't seen anything like it before, usually the people I put through it would stop on the first lap and beg for me to take of the weights... I had to say... this kid was impressive. I watched him as he kept going around the block, and waited for him to finish his second lap.

Kenshin POV

It was a couple hours later when I finished my final lap around the block, I dragged myself, and the blocks on my feet back to where we started, and saw that Sanosuke had fallen asleep waiting for me. I dragged myself up beside him and looked down at him as he woke up and stared at me. "What?" He said as I pointed down at my feet and he looked back at my feet. "Oh, alright I'll get those off... but you may want to brace yourself for a fall." He said as he began unstrapping me and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait, a fall, what are yo--AHHHH!" I shouted as he untied the final strap, and I fell to the ground. My legs had gone limp, and had become essentially as useless as France in a war (OH SNAP!). He suddenly grabbed me and picked me up and heaved me over his shoulder, as if I weighed absolutely nothing.

"Come on, there's more work to be done." Sanosuke said as I raised an eyebrow.

"What? You've already killed my arms and my legs, what else could you possibly do to me?" I asked as I shrugged, nearly causing him to drop me.

"Well let's see, we've still got to work on you're back muscles, your chest muscles, and your stomach muscles. So yeah, we still have a little more work to do." He said as I began sweating bullets.

'Oh boy...' I thought as he carried me back inside.

A Few Hours Later, Lunch Time

... It was a few hours later when we finally stopped, I laid upon the floor of his gym, my body hurting all over. "Uuuuuhhhh." I moaned as I laid on the floor, unable to get up, or even move my pinky toe. Sanosuke stood over me with raised eyebrows as he looked at me.

"Hey kid look on the bright side, you did better then most people." Sanosuke said as I slowly twirled my hand around, as painful as it was.

"Woopee..." I said as he laughed.

"I suppose you'll want me to get you home in time for lunch." He said as I nodded, painful, once again.

"Yes please." I muttered out as he slung me over his shoulder and walked out of the dojo onto the streets. He looked around and looked up towards the sun, since he didn't have a clock in his dojo (probably from not having enough money to buy one), so he had to look at the sun to get a good idea of the time. "By the looks of it it is about... ten minutes till noon, we'd better hurry." He said as he began walking down the street. "So where do you live anyway?" He asked as I tried to mummble out my answer, without success. "Come again?" He said as he stopped in the middle of the street.

"Hinata Sou..." I said as he looked at me with widened eyes.

"Wait, so you're one of those two guys I heard about that moved into the all-girl's dormitory, and now live there with all of those hot women." He said as I shrugged and nodded. He kept on walking with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "Lucky bastard." He said as he continued carrying me down the street, back to Hinata Sou.

Hinata Sou

General POV

All of the Hinata Sou residents were sitting around the dinning room table, it was normal, or custom, for them to wait for everyone to come down to eat. There were sounds of growling coming out of everyone's stomachs. Everyone was sitting there, suffering slightly, while Motoko was tapping her foot on the ground. Suddenly Motoko stood up and slammed her hand on the table, shaking all of the dishes. "Where the hell is he!? He knows that it is time for lunch!" She shouted as everyone, secretly, agreed with her.

Then, suddenly, the sound of the front sliding door resounded through the rooms. Motoko stood up and began moving towards the door. "Motoko, where are you going?" Naru said as everyone nodded.

"I'm going to give that male a piece of my mind!" Motoko shouted as she stormed into the front of the house. It was only a few seconds later... "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" Everyone heard Motoko shout as they stormed into the front room as well... only to be treated to the sight of seeing Kenshin, slung over a tall, muscular man.

Sano POV

Oh. My. God. I was in guy heaven. Here I was, standing in front of... let me see, one, two, three hot girls, and two little teens... and one nerdy lookin' guy... how is it that he and these two got the chance of a lifetime like this... well, anyway, three out of five girl's isn't bad. I continued to stare while they stared at me as well. "I ask again male, who the hell are you?!" The one in the red and white robe said as I raised an eyebrow at her rudeness.

"Well, I'm this guy's trainer." I said as everyone 'ah'ed. "I worked him so hard that he just eventually just couldn't move anymore." I said as a auburn haired girl walked up to me and smiled. I stared at her rack as I dropped the kid to the floor and started tapping my chin with my finger.

"Thank you sir, thank you for..." The auburn hair girl began saying till she looked at me with a slightly ticked off look. "Are you looking at my chest?!" The girl said as I continued tapping my chin.

"Are those real?" I asked as suddenly everyone in the room began blushing. "I mean, if those are real, good job." I said as the auburn haired girl gained a deeper blush. "I mean I've never seen real ones so big before!" I said as she began shaking and she drew her fist back. "Except for that one chick in Nara when I was younger..." I muttered as I noticed she was shaking.

"PERVERT!" The auburn haired girl shouted as she lunged her fist towards my face. I quickly caught her right hook with my left hand, as I continued to tap my chin with my right hand.

"Oh... my... God!" One of the three hot girls, who looked like a fox at first glance, said as she stared (I think) at me and as the girl in the red and white kimono just glared at me.

"H-h-h-he caught Naru's punch!" The blue haired teen girl said as the blond, foreign looking, friend just stared in amazement. "N-n-n-no-no one has ever caught one of Naru's punches!" The same girl said as I continued 'researching'.

"You sure you didn't have implants put in?" I asked as she drew her other fist back and tried to slug me. I of course caught that one with my right hand and continued observing.

"You vile male!" The one in the red and white robes shouted as she drew her sword out. "I'll destroy you!" The girl shouted as she ran for me. I pushed the auburn haired girl out of the way as the red robed girl tried to chop my head off with a swing to my neck. But, I skillfully caught the sword in between the index finger and thumb of my left hand, shocking everyone once again, and then used my right hand to tap my chin again... something was... off about the auburn haired girl, and this red robed one, however physically developed they may be.

"How old are you two?" I asked as they looked at me in shock.

"Fifteen." Motoko said, still trying to get over the fact that her blade had been caught.

"Seventeen..." Naru said, trying to get over the fact that not only had Motoko's blade been caught, but that her own punch had been caught. Ouch... no wonder.

"Oh, man." I said as I let the sword girl's sword go. "And I thought you two were at least eighteen, with busts like those." I said as they glared at me with eyes burning with anger. "Well, now that's over with." I said as I lifted Kenshin over my shoulders, again, and saw that those two were still very annoyed with me. "Are we going to sit here or what? Tell me where I can put this guy." I said as the nerdy guy stepped forwards, obviously a bit afraid of me. "And who are you all, I would like to now the names of the people who nearly attacked me." I said as the nerdy guy with glasses nodded.

"He-hello, my name is Keitaro Urashima." He said as he bowed. "The two you just met are Naru Narusegawa." He said, pointing to the angry aurburn haired girl. "Motoko Aoyama." He said, pointing to the angry red robed girl. "And they are Koalla Su, Shinobu Maehara, and Mitsune Konno, we just call her Kitsune." Keitaro said as he pointed to each person he named. Shinobu blushed, apparently from my earlier comments, Su was just all smiles, and Mitsune was giving him raised eyebrows, as well as plain old open eyes.

"Well its been nice being introduced to you all, but carrying this kid is becoming a pain in the ass." I said, making the blue haired girl blush, and the others look at me with a slightly pissed look. "Where can I put him down?" I asked as Keitaro pointed towards one of the doors.

"Into the kitchen, put him at a chair, and then you can go." He said as I nodded and walked on through, though the one known as Kitsune stepped forward and stopped me.

"Hey, why haven't you guessed my age? Aren't you interested in learning my age? Do I really look that old?" Kitsune asked as I sighed.

"Because I could already tell you were older then a high school graduate. I mean, after all..." I said as I sniffed the air around her. "You reek of Sake." I said as I walked passed her, but before I could go much further, she got in front of me, and tapped my peck a few times. When she was done I raised an eyebrow at her. "Why'd you do that?" I asked as she got a smirk on her face.

"Just wanted to see if they were real hon." She said as she winked and I raised my eyebrow.

However I just sighed and walked past her, and into the apparent kitchen/dinning room area. I saw the table set up, and there was one chair that was not pulled out, obviously his seat. I walked over, and put him in the seat, and then walked out. They watched me as I left and as I reached the front door I looked back at all of them with a stern look, causing some of them to flinch. "Oh, and before I forget, my name is Sanosuke Sagara. Tell Kenshin that if he wishes to continue my training to come back tomorrow, or whenever he gets better..." I said as we all heard the sound of dishes clattering in the other room. "Which by the sounds of it is now..." I said as I smirked and left Hinata Sou, very interested in what I saw there today.

Kenshin POV

'Oh my head...' I thought as I began coming to. When we came into Hinata Sou, that is Sanosuke and myself, he seemed to notice the girl's pretty quickly. Try as I might have to gain the strength to speak, before something happened that would, inevitably, knock me out cold, as it always does, I could not get a word out. Why you ask? Because Sanosuke dropped me onto the floor, and I hit my head on the floor, probably what lead me to go out cold.

Now then, what lead me to come out of my semi-coma? Well... it could be the delicious smell I'm smelling right now. I opened my eye, ignoring the nagging headache I had... and saw one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my entire life. There was food, lots of food... and not just any food, I could tell that it was Shinobu's cooking. Now, between Motoko's training, the wait between meals, and Sanosuke's training, I had gained a huge hunger for Shinobi's great cooking.

I knew that I was supposed to wait for the other tenants to come in and eat... but I need... the food! So I grabbed my plate, shoved pieces of food onto it, and began digging in. I began just shoveling some of the noodles into my mouth, when I heard the door open and looked behind me. I stared at the other tenants, who were, glaring, at me while their stomachs were growling. I sweat dropped as I stared at them. I slurrped the noodles up into my mouth and stared at them with a slight smile. "Hey guys... what's up?" I asked as some of them began cracking their necks. "Uh oh." I said as I was ambushed by Motoko, Naru, and Kitsune. I was just glad they were too hungry to put too much of their power into their blows.

So after the... first beating of the day, we all dug into Shinobu's cooking, all of us were very, very hungry. I was hungry from all of that training, and I think everyone else was hungry from waiting for me to show up to lunch. But after that, the days went back into its normal paces. We all went our seperate ways for a while, Motoko to her training grounds, Shinobu went to her lab, Shinobu.. well I'm not sure where she goes, Naru, Keitaro, and I went to studying, and Kitsune... oh hell who knows.

But, the next day I did something I'm pretty proud of. The next day, in the morning, I went over to Sanosuke's dojo, and when I arrived I found him asleep in his room in the broken down dojo. I woke him up with a bucket of water, and that woke him up well, and when he woke up and saw me, he stared at me before yawning and speaking. "Hey, what the hell are you doing here?" He asked as I smiled at him as I put the bucket down.

"Well, I paid to be trained, and I'm going to be trained." I said in a cocky tone as he blinked a few more times, before smirking and getting out of his bed, and we began the tiring training again.

November 31 - The End of The Month

Sano POV

I was walking down the street that morning, carrying my breakfast in a plastic bag with me. I couldn't afford a good breakfast some mornings, so I would just go for fast food some mornings. I have to say, that Kenshin kid isn't as bad as I thought he would be. He's been consistently showing up to my lessons every morning, hell I had to get a new sleeping schedule just to keep up with him. Anyway, that yen I got from him was pretty helpful, it couldn't pay off all of my debt, but they did say it would hold them off... for a little bit.

But anyway, the new kid, Kenshin, he's definetly had some kind of training before, even if his body doesn't show it at first glance. He's been taking my exercises like a man, and he's only fifteen. I know men who tried to fufill my training regiment who ended up crying for they're mommies to make it stop. But that's besides the point. He should be coming back this morning so I'd best hurry back to the dojo. As I reached the front of my dojo I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out the key to my place. I locked it on my way out to prevent theft, but then again there isn't too much to steal anyway.

I put the key into its keyhole, but when I tried to turn the lock, the lock wouldn't turn. 'Maybe I forgot to lock the door?' I thought as I put the key back into my pocket and began trying to turn the knob. When the knob would budge I tried turning it harder, nearly tearing off the entire freaking door. I was just about to bust it down when I looked up and saw a piece of paper that was posted on my door. I took the paper of the door... and I stared at it with a slacked jaw for quite sometime before the message finally sinked in...

I was evicted out of my own dojo/home...

Kenshin POV

I was walking down the road that lead to Sanosuke's dojo, limping around a bit. Sanosuke's training was highly difficult, but I think its really helping. I'm feeling a bit stronger, and I've been noticing I'm getting a little faster too. I was just about there when I noticed Sanosuke was sitting against his door, chewing on a piece of wheat. I walked up to him, and I raised an eyebrow as he didn't even look at me. "Sanosuke, why are you sitting here?" I said as he only glanced at me and sighed.

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, and threw it at me. As I looked at the paper, I gasped slightly.

Dear Sagara-san,

We are sorry to inform you, that due to several unpaid debts, loans, plus your unpaid rent, and bills, those of which include electric, water, gas, etc., that we are evicting you from you're property. We are sad to say that even the property was unable to make up for you're debt, as such, much of the furniture was taken from you're home, with the exception of your weapon, the Zanbato, as we find no use for it (its not even worth much money on the market). To prevent you from re-entering this property, which now, now formally, belongs to the Hinata District of Japan, we have changed the locks on you're house. Once again, we apologize for any trouble this causes you Sagara-san, but this must be done.

Our Most Sincere Apologies,

The 1st National Hina Bank

I read and re-read the paper, well, now its an eviction notice, in his hand. He gave Sanosuke an estranged look, while Sanosuke just kept looking forward. "Well Sanosuke-san, what are you going to do now?" I said as he just sighed and spat out the piece of wheat he was chewing on a moment ago. He stood up and perched the giant sword in its place on his back as he just sighed.

"Well kid, I'm not exactly sure." He said as I just stared at him in mild shock. He didn't even have a back up plan if this just happened to fail? "Well might as well get going, I'm sure that I could get a job whoring myself out, or even just doing some fights and have people bet on me..." He said as my jaw slacked at his bold statement, even a few people on the street looked at him with a look that just said 'what the hell did he just say'. "Well see ya later kid." He said as he began walking off.

I stood there and thought of something to do... and I hesitated at first with this option, but when he was about twenty feet away I decided that in order to keep my teacher in Hinata there would be no other way. "Sanosuke-san, I would like to stay at Hinata Sou with Keitaro, myself, and the tenants!" I shouted as he stopped for a moment, looked back, and sighed as he turned back foward.

"Two problems with that kid. First off, Hinata Sou is a girl's dorm, there's no way you'd be lucky enough to get me to stay there." He said as he held up his right hand and straightened one finger. "And secondly..." He said as he straightened his middle finger, now holding up two fingers. "No." He said as my jaw dropped.

"What?" I asked as he sighed again.

"I'm not about to ask for help, I'm not helpless after all. I'm able to handle myself, I don't need your help." He said dryly as he looked back at me. "Besides, you wouldn't want me around anyway..." He said as he sighed. "Well see you, again." He said as he began walking again.

"If you won't stay with us, at least join us for breakfast." I said as he stopped dead in his tracks... I had him. "After all you don't look like you've had a thing to eat all morning!" I shouted as he put a hand to his stomach.

Sano POV

And the ing worst part about it was that he was right. I may have had the groceries, but if you have nothing to cook them on/with, you're pretty much ed. Let me see here... I suppose I could join them for breakfast wouldn't exactly be rude... in fact it would probably be rude for me to not accept his offer for a meal. I mean, how could accepting a meal be as rude as staying with someone without really doing much... well... I guess...

RRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR

Well my stomach has spoken, I guess... I really have to now.

Kenshin POV

Sanosuke turned back to face me, a hungry, bored, and god damned stuck look on his face. "Alright kid... you got me... I'm too hungry to turn this down..." Sanosuke said as I smiled and nodded.

"Alright then Sanosuke-san, follow me then, I'll take you to you're free meal sir!" I said with enthusiasm while he just sighed. We walked down the streets, myself walking with a bit of a leap in my step while Sanosuke just dragged his feat along. People shot me estranged looks, while they gave Sanosuke weirded out looks, probably due to his immense size, and the immense size of his sword. We eventually arrived to the steps of Hinata Sou, and we began escalating them up to the top.

I looked back to see Sanosuke, still rubbing his stomach and giving me that look of his. "Hey kid, if you're going to keep on looking back here then take a picture, trust me it will last much longer." He said as I chuckled at his crack at humor.

"Very funny Sanosuke-san." I said as he just sighed again. We reached the top of the steps and we looked at Hinata Sou for a few moments before I turned to him. "Welcome back to Hinata Sou Sanosuke-san." I said as he seemed to have a very lost look on his face as he seemed to ignore me. "Sanosuke-san?" I asked as he snapped out of his stupor and looked at me with a stern look, though it was shaken a bit from how I just shocked him.

"Sorry, its just... last time I was here I didn't take much time to look at this place... its huge!" Sanosuke said as I nodded.

"Indeed, well then let's get going in... hopefully you didn't do anything too bad when you came to drop me off the first time..." I said as suddenly he began sweating bullets. "Something wrong?" I asked as he shook his head left and right repeatedly.

"Oh no... absolutely nothing is wrong!" He shouted as I nodded and began walking foward.

Sano POV

'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Oh God, now I could handle the first two one on one, but if they attack me at the same time... and if that third one or the other ones get on me... I'm gonna be killed...' I thought as I nervously walked towards the 'Gate of Hell' that I could possibly be entering.

Kenshin POV

I walked forward, my carefree attitude in check as I opened the door and allowed Sanosuke into Hinata Sou first, after all he was the guest. As we entered I closed the door behind me and I went towards the kitchen, I beckoned him to follow me, and he did, but as we reached the kitchen door I told him to stay put for a moment while I ask if there's enough food. "Wait shouldn't you have figured that out before you asked me to come eat here?" Sanosuke asked as I tapped my finger to my chin.

"I guess I wasn't thinking about that." I said as I chuckled and scratched the back of my head sheepishly as he face vaulted to the ground. "This will only take a second Sanosuke-san." I said as I opened the kitchen door and went in to see everyone being seated at the table, except for Shinobu who was still by the stove. "Hello everyone, how is everyone?" I said as everyone looked at me with either a stern look, a smile, or a smirk.

"Hey Kenshin-san/kun." Everyone said as I approached. I approached the table and didn't sit down, when I didn't they all raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hey Kenshin-san, something wrong?" Naru said as I nodded.

"Oh no nothing's wrong Naru-san." I said as she nodded and smiled. "But." I said as they all looked at me. "I would like to know if we had enough food to feed a guest I have invited." I said as Shinobu quickly checked in some of the pots.

"Yes we have enough food Kenshin-kun." Shinobu said as I gave a pleading look to everyone.

"Don't worry Kenshin-san, I'll allow a guest to eat with us..." Keitaro said as Motoko, Kitsune, and even Naru, gave him a look of little annoyance. "I-I mean as long as its okay with everyone else!" Keitaro said as I looked at everyone with the 'please for the love of God' look... the dreaded puppy dog eyes.

"Well, of course its fine with me Kenshin-san." Naru said with a smile.

"Hey if Naru's fine with it, I guess I am." Kitsune said as she slurred her words slightly... drinking at this early in the morning Kitsune...

"YAY! A NEW PLAYMATE!" Su shouted as he jumped up and down off the chair.

"I'm okay with it Ke-Kenshin-kun." Shinobu said as she stirred more of the food.

Everyone looked at Motoko with an expecting look. As everyone looked at her she sighed as she rested her head on her hand. "Fine... looks like I'm out voted anyway..." Motoko said as I nodded.

"Thank you everyone." I said as everyone nodded in return. "Alright then, come on in!" I shouted as Sanosuke slowly came in. As soon as Sanosuke came through the door... all hell broke loose.

"WHAT! WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE?!" Motoko and Naru shouted as Kitsune raised her eyebrows, Shinobu blushed, Keitaro looked like he was beginning to pray, and Su just jumped over the table, onto Sanosuke's shoulders, and bent down so that her face was looking at his.

"HI! Are you my new playmate, pervert?" Su asked as Sanosuke raised his eyebrows.

"What?" He asked as Naru grabbed Su off Sanosuke's shoulders, and Motoko got her sword partway out of its sheath.

"Look, what are you doing here? Are you here to be a pervert again!?" Naruto shouted as Motoko nodded. "Are you here to be perverted again!?" Naru shouted as I just stayed in the background and watched before I walked up to Sanosuke.

"Sanosuke leave the kitchen for a moment please." I said as I looked at him, and he nodded back at me. He walked out of the room and I faced everyone. "Now everyone, you all just agreed to allow him to join us for dinner." I said in a slightly scolding tone.

"But Kenshin-san, you never told us it was, THAT GUY!" Naru shouted as I sighed and looked at them with my patented serious look, creeping out some of the occupants in the room.

"Look, he just got evicted from his home, had I not offered him this meal he would've left." I said as some of them gasped. "He helped me with my training, and I'm going to try to repay the favor." I said as Motoko slammed her hand on the table a bit.

"But Himura, you've already paid him for the lessons, isn't that enough?" She asked as I shook my head no.

"You should know me by now Aoyama-san, I'm not going to let his patience with my go unpaid..." I said as I leaned in close so I could whisper to them. "I'm going to see if he'll stay here." I said as I raised my hand quickly to silence most of them. "I'm not going to allow someone to be kicked onto the street. As the grounds keeper I have a say in who stays here." I said as I raised my hand again. "I'm offering him a job here... he'll be with the same status as Keitaro and myself." I said as I kept the look on all of them. When they didn't say anything I returned to my smiling look and lifted my head back up and faced the door.

"Alright Sanoske-san come on in!" I shouted as Sanosuke walked back in and looked at me.

"So where do I sit?" He asked as I pointed to the empty chair at the end of the table. He looked at it and nodded as he walked over, and sat down. As Shinobu continued cooking, I noticed Sanosuke was looking very uncomfortable, especially with Naru's and Motoko's gazes fixed upon him. If I didn't know any better, I would say that he felt like he was being interrogated by the Hina District Police. But its a good thing I knew better... right?

Sano POV

I'm sweating bullets while I'm waiting for my breakfast to come... I swear to God that these two girls are way scarier then the Hina District Police... if this was the first time I met them I wouldn't have to worry about it since they wouldn't know how good I could fight them off... but know... they can gang up on me... and I'm not too comfortable with the idea of a sword and a fist coming at me at once... I wish I brought my Zanbato in here with me...

Its alright... take deep breaths Sanosuke... just remember how you handled the interrogation officers... don't say anything unless they talk to you, and answer with either yes or no... just take deep breaths...

Kenshin POV

I watched with a slightly slacked jaw, as I saw Sanosuke sweat... and taking deep breathes. Okay, he's done something... and whatever it was it had earned the wrath of Naru and Motoko. At any rate, Shinobu served the meal, which turned out to be an amazing lunch of rice, fish... and burnt eggs. I smiled at Shinobu as she set the food down. "Shinobu-chan, I see you've been trying some of the American recipes I cook." I said as Shinobu blushed and smiled. I grabbed a bit of eggs, seeing as how every, except Sanosuke, really wasn't taking them. I took a bite, swallowed, and looked at Shinobu who was staring at me expectantly.

"Well Shinobu-chan, its good, but I'm going to have to teach you how to cook it a bit better." I said as Shinobu nodded before sitting down with everyone else. Everyone took a bit of food, well Sanosuke took a ton of food. In fact by the time everyone else had taken some food, Sanoske had gotten quite a bit of everything. When we all got what we were going to eat, we all began eating in...

SSSSHHHHHWOOOP!

That sound sounded throughout the kitchen as we all looked to see Sanosuke had not onl eaten everything on the plate, but didn't leave a bit of a crumb on his plate. We all stared as Sanosuke put his chop sticks down and began picking at his teeth with a toothpick. Even Su was staring at him amazed, before wagging her finger at him. "No, no, no, its impolite to eat that fast." Su said as we all looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

Alright, if you eat so fast that even Su considers you rude, then you're eating pretty fast. We all looked as Sanosuke just shrugged and got up. "Well, that's all I'm eating, thanks for the meal, it was delicious." Sanosuke said as he bowed and left the kitchen. I got up quickly and ran towards the front door, as the others got up to follow me, despite not having eaten yet. I ran out, and caught Sanoske who was putting his Zanbato on to his back, which caused Naru and Motoko to sweat drop slightly.

"Sanosuke-san, please consider my offer." Kenshin said as Naru and Motoko puffed up their cheeks slightly.

"Why, I can handle myself, I don't need any sympathy, any help." Sanosuke said as he looked me dead in the eye. "I'm not like my father." He said as I suddenly found out exactly why he wasn't taking my help... then I began considering the choices I had left.

"I would give you a job as a guard! You wouldn't techinically be getting help since it would be your job to stay here!" I shouted as he looked up for a second, taking on a thoughtful look. But he just looked back at me and shook his head no.

"I'm sorry, but no." He said as he began opening up the door. This was desperate, but I'd have to guess that it would be my last option.

"Fine, fight me!" I shouted as he, and just about everyone else in the room looked at me as if I was absolutely insane. "If I win then you stay, if you win then you can do whatever you want!" I shouted as Sanoske took on another thoughtful look.

Sano POV

Hmmm... talk about your win, win situations. If he wins, which won't happen, I get a job, and a place to live, and I suppose it wouldn't be sympathy if he beats me. If I win I get to beat the snot out of this overconfident little loser. Alright then, now to tell this kid that I'm in. I turned around and I looked at the kid with a smirk. "Alright kid, you're on, I'd be more then glad to beat the snot out of you." I said as he nodded and everyone else looked at us like we were mad men. Then he began showing me the way to this... island with a waterfall behind the Dorm?

Kenshin POV

I lead Sanosuke to the back of the dorm, into the same area where Motoko and myself fought. When he first arrived, I could tell that he was very shocked, and very impressed by the size of it. I smiled at him as I watched. "You can still back out of the fight if you wish to." I said in a cheerful tone as he scoufed and shook his head.

"Please kid I'm going to wip you all around this fancy place." He said as he looked at the waterfall. "It is kinda cool though." I heard Sanosuke say as I smiled at him and nodded, while closing my eyes of course.

"Very well then Sanosuke-san." I said as I opened my eyes, which I hoped were giving off the aura of seriousness that they normally did, and judging Sanosuke's widened eyes they did. I then drew my sword and got myself ready. "Shall we get started?" I asked as he smirked.

General POV

Keitaro, and the rest of the tenants of Hinata Sou were sitting on the same island on which they observed Kenshin's and Motoko's fight, however this time Motoko had joined them on the island. Shinobu, who since having seen Sanosuke put the giant Zanbato onto his back, was a little frightened, went up to Motoko, and tugged on her Gi. Motoko looked down to Shinobu, as Shinobu stood there blushing slightly. "Motoko, how are Ke-Kenshin-kun's chances?" Shinobu said as many of the other tenants perked up as well.

"Yeah Motoko, how are his chances?" Naru asked as Keitaro nodded.

"Seriously, if I could bet, who should I bet on?" Kitsune said as she smirked a bit.

"Yeah Motoko-chan! What are Rurouni-kun's chances?!" Su shouted as she jumped onto Motoko's shoulders. Motoko looked out onto the island on which Kenshin and Sanosuke stood, Sanoske just cracking his neck, and stretching out various parts of his body, while Kenshin stood there, sword drawn. Motoko, for only a second, cracked a small smile as she looked at the others with a confident look.

"Kenshin's chances are good." Motoko said as everyone smiled, and only slightly grimaced at the chances of having Sanoske around. "I mean after all, this guy may be strong, but we know that from my fight that Kenshin will run circles around him." Motoko said as Shinobu raised her hand. "Yes Shinobu?" Motoko asked as Shinobu pointed towards Sanosuke.

"What about that giant sword?" Shinobu asked as Motoko smirked.

"That Shinobu, is a Zanbato, or you could call it by its better-known name. The two-in-one sword. Reason why they call it this is because that it could kill a man and his horse in one swing." Motoko said as many of the tenant began sweating. Motoko just laughed slightly before giving them all a smirk. "But don't worry, there's no way that he'll be able to lift the thing. Hell, there hasn't been a person I've known who could." Motoko said as many of the tenants became relaxed... except for Naru and Keitaro. "Naru-san, Urashima, something wrong?" Motoko asked as they both pointed as Sanoske.

Everyone looked... and saw Sanosuke hoisting the Zanbato off of his back, and into his two hands. Everyone stared for a moment before Motoko walked over to Shinobu and covered her eyes. "You... may not want to see this..." Motoko said as she could feel tears building up in Shinobu's eyes as everyone kept on staring.

Kenshin POV

As I stood there and watched as Sanosuke drew out his Zanbato I kept my stern stance, and, hopefully, kept my confident look on my face... however if my body were to represent the turmoil that was in my mind, I'd be pretty pathetic looking. My knees would be quivering, I'd be shaking in my sandals, I'd be sweating bullets, and my heart would be exploding out of my chest. I swear, I knew that the Zanbato was coming... BUT COME ON! He looks terrifying with that thing! He must of noticed my slightly nervous state, because he smirked as I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"You can still back out if you wish to..." Sanosuke said, saying the words I had only a few minutes ago. I gritted my teeth slightly as I shook my head no and as he sighed. "Alright then, you're move!" He said as he tensed his body up... apparently I would be the first one to make the first move in this fight...

"Very well then Sanosuke-san!" I shouted as I ran for him. I honestly don't know what possessed me to go take his bait, and rush in... maybe it was because I was trying to keep someone who helped me off the streets... maybe I was excited about taking on a opponent, who's caliber was higher then my own. Whatever the reason, I made a very fatal flaw, when going against a bigger, stronger, and most likely better opponent... you never take the first move.

But this thought didn't cross my mind as I ran towards Sanosuke, my sword at my side. As he tensed up even more I jumped up into the air, suprising Sanosuke midly as I brought my sword above my head. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryutsuisen (Supersonic Sword Technique: Dragon Hammer Flash)!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I prepared to bring my sword down. However, Sanosuke gather his wits and swung at me, several feet before I could get at him. I landed on top of his Zanbato, and jumped off of it as he slung me off of it.

He rushed for me as I landed, bringing his Zanbato up, I, however, rolled out of the way, in time enough to narrowly miss being sliced in half by Sanoske's Zanbato. Sanosuke looked at me with a look of seriousness as he slung his sword over his shoulder. "You sure you wanna fight with real swords?" He asked as I looked straight at him.

"I would imagine that if I took you on with a wooden one, my chances of victory would not even exist... so no, I'll take my chances." I said as he smirked as he brought his Zanbato back in front of him.

"Very well then!" He shouted as he ran for me, preparing another vertical smash. I rolled out of the way of it, once again, and was prepared to put a cut into his left arm. However, he quickly brought his Zanbato up to his defense, blocking my sword with the flat side of his. He began swing it towards me, but I jumped back to avoid the blow. I was in trouble, if he can move the Zanbato that fast... can't think like that, I have to win this fight! I decided to go for a slightly different tactic.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Doryusen (Supersonic Sword Technique: Earth Dragon Flash)!" I shouted as I rammed my sword into the ground, and flung rocks towards Sanosuke. Sanosuke, however, quickly brought the flat side of his sword back up to his defense to block the stones. I took this chance and quickly got behind him... but just as quickly as I got there... he turned around and got another vertical slash ready. He brought it down, and I was too close to dodge it... so I tried blocking it... bad idea... REALLY bad idea.

Depsite my own sword being brought up to defend, his own sword kept on driving down. However I did give myself enough time to dodge out of the way of his strike. Right then and there, I knew that I needed to get away from him for a little while... so I jumped as high into the air as I possibly could, hoping that he wouldn't be able to reach. Now... I should've guessed that this was going to happen next, after all, so far nothing in this battle has gone right, why should this?

Sanosuke jumped up into the air and, albeit slowly, was approaching me, swing his Zanbato in circles. I decided that now would be a good time to try out how effective Motoko's few hours of training could be... I slammed my fists together, and they began glowing with Ki. "Shinmeiryu: Gurenken (God's Cry School: Red Lotus Fist)!" I shouted as I began spinning. Though spinning, I noticed Sanosuke was still smirking... time to pull this one out. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryukansen - Tsumuji )Supersonic Sword Technique: Dragon Wrap Flash - Spiral)!" I shouted as my spinning came to full speed.

His spinning came to full speed as well, and when he was close enough... we clashed our swords together. Both of our attacks were being powered by centrifugal force, but mine was being powered by Ki, which I thought would give me an edge. It did... but only slightly. A few seconds after the clash, both of our swords were flung several yards away. And as soon as they were gone... Sanosuke punched me in the gut. As I lost my breath I noticed that it felt like I was just struck by a sledge hammer.

He punched me two more times, before throwing me to the ground. I flipped in mid-air to recover, and landed on my feet, and began running for my sword. He landed a few seconds afterwards, and followed. I got to my sword first, and ran for him and tried to hit him with a horizontal slash... and to have him dodge it, hit me in the ribs with a Round-house kick, and then while I was flying ran for his sword, grab it, and then perch it onto his shoudler.

I shakily stood up, and looked at Sanosuke... who wasn't even short of breath, while I was quivering slightly from the blows he had given me... and in that next moment I knew my next move... it was so simple... but it would take a lot of luck to work. I straightened up, took a deep breathe, and placed my sword back in the sheath. Sanoske dropped his guard thinking that I was giving up... then I sprang my trap. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Battojutsu: Hiryusen (Supersonic Sword Technique: Art of Drawing the Blade: Flying Dragon Flash)!" I shouted as I spun around once and, holding onto only the sheath, punched it towards Sanoske, causing the blade to fly out, spin a bit, and then point straight towards Sanosuke.

Sanosuke gasped and turned to dodge the blade, and as he watched the blade fly away, is when I made my move. I slammed my fists together, once again incasing them in Ki. "Shinmeiryu: Gurenken!" I shouted as I ran towards him, and just as he looked towards me, I slammed one of my fists into his face, causing him to drop the Zanbato. I sent more punches flying into him, one after the other, hitting him in the chest, the chest, and shoulders.

However, he regained himself, and punched me in the chest, sending me back a few feet. But I regained myself, and ran for him with, intent on sending a right punch into his. However he had the same idea, and our punches collided... and I could feel my arm almost break under the strain of it. A second later he grabbed my wrist, flung me over him, and into the air. I recovered and landed on my feet... right beside my sword. I pulled it out of the ground, and I began charging him. He got his Zanbato, and he brought it so that he could send a horizontal slash at me.

And he did... but he hit nothing. I jumped onto his blade at the last minute, and when the tip of it ended up behind him, and when he was momentarily confused is when I struck. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryusosen (Supersonic Sword Techinque: Dragon Nest Flash)!" I shouted as he looked behind him, just in time to see my first slash, which caused him to once again drop his Zanbato. I continued to swing my sword, in non-vital spot of course, at Sanosuke... and I charged up one final one, and as I did I watched him pulled back for one more punch.

The sound of crunching bone, and cutting resounded the the air as I ended up behind Sanosuke. We both stood there for a second... before... I fell...

I'll reveal the winner of the fight in the chapter!!! TAKE THAT BI-ATCHES!!!! R&R!!!!