Chapter 14: Run-In at a Bad Time!

Kenshin stared out at the road once again as Megumi drove her car down the street. Sano had called shotgun again, and now sat in the front in a black t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off and dark denim jeans with fringe around the bottom.

"OOH! I LOVE THIS SONG!!" Sano yelled, turning up the radio. He had long since put in one of his CD's, a hard rock disc that Megumi obviously despised.

Yahiko and Sano were pretending to play the guitar solo when she pulled into the parking lot.

"Remind me again why I brought you all?" She glared at Sanosuke.

"Oh, come on Megitsune! You couldn't just leave us there!"

"It was your idea, de gozaru yo," Kenshin said pointedly to Sano. Sano grinned nervously, then jumped over the door and out onto the parking lot. "I'm hungry! Let's mooch of cute girls for food!"

"Hey! Wait for me, stupid!" Yahiko yelled, scrambling out after him.

"Oro…" Kenshin muttered.

"Let's go, Ken-san!" Megumi said, sparkly eyed. "Oh-ho-ho-ho!" She nabbed him and dragged him into the mall.

-

"You know, Misao, I don't know what you have against Kenshin," Kaoru said, holding up a yellow t-shirt to examine it to her in the mirror.

Misao was digging through the jeans, trying to find her size. "You just… don't understand, that's all."

"Understand? Aoshi looks way more threatening the Kenshin ever could."

"Look, uh-" Misao rose up and looked Kaoru in the eyes. She then noticed Aoshi staring at her through the store window, a very serious look on his face. "Uh…. Nevermind…" She went back to searching. "Ooh! These are adorable!"

Kaoru sighed and put the shirt back. "I'm going to the food court. Catch you later."

"Sayonara," Misao said, heading towards the dressing room with the pair of jeans.

Once Kaoru left, she put down the jeans and waited for Aoshi to enter.

"You cannot tell her about the Battousai, Misao," He said, looming over her.

"I didn't, Aoshi-sama," She beamed at him. "-but, shouldn't she know? After all, she was-"

"It's not important now. We'll cross that bridge if we come to it."

"You mean when we come to it."

"…"

"Okay, nevermind…"

"I'm going to my store. Don't wait up."

"Uh… okay…" Misao said, blushing and smiling at him. "Goodbye, Aoshi-sama!"

"…" He left.

"Ohhh… He's so WONDERFUL!" She cried, everyone in the store staring at her.

-

Kenshin sat at the food court, slurping on a smoothie boredly while Sano and Yahiko went from food stand to food stand, trying to decide what they wanted. Megumi had disappeared awhile ago when she found a store she adored, and they had yet to catch sight of her.

"Yay, I have friends…" Kenshin said flatly. "-and they're all morons…"

"Hey… Himura…"

"Oro?" Kenshin looked up. A man in a business suit stood before him, his brown hair greased back. He had a mustache and sunglasses with Japanese symbols painted on the lenses. "Who are you? How do you know who I am?"

"Uonuma Usui. I've heard a lot about you."

"From who?" Kenshin felt that the air had grown thin, and though the man was blind he--- "Wait a minute… You're blind! How did you know it was me?!"

"Well, I told him, Himura-san!" Someone stepped out from behind him, bearing his usual emotionless grin.

"Soujirou…" Kenshin muttered, wide-eyed.

"So, you remember me? I'm flattered, Himura-san," Soujirou said, tilting his head slightly to the left.

Kenshin got up from his chair to run, but Soujirou's dagger was at his neck before he could get away… Wait… it was… Usui's dagger? How does he do that? He wondered.

"Come on, Himura-san! The rest of us really want to meet you."

"Yes," Usui said. "Come along, boy. We have big plans for you…"

Kenshin had no choice. He slowly followed along in the middle of them, the dagger placed threateningly at his side, and Soujirou's ever impassive grin distracting him. Someone save me…

-

Kaoru had spotted Kenshin moments ago at the table she stood at, but after she had gotten through the crowd, there was no sight of him. "Kenshin?" She called, picking up his half-drunken smoothie. She looked around until her eyes met with the back of his head. She smiled, but it quickly faded when she noticed who he was walking with.

"Hey, Jou-chan!" Sano yelled, running up, grinning ear to ear. "What are you up to?"

"That's the Juppon Katana… and they've got Kenshin!" She cried.

Sano's smile was gone. He looked over at the three men quickly disappearing into the crowd. "Damn…" He whispered. "Let's go!" He went running after him, Kaoru at his heels.

Yahiko came over to the table and set all of the food down. "Hey, where'd they go? Damn, they ditched me again! I knew I didn't have any real friends!!!" He sat down at the table and glared at the two cheeseburgers and fries.

"E-excuse me… You aren't going to eat all of that, are you?"

Yahiko looked up and blushed. "Tsu… Tsubame…"

"You must be really hungry…"

"Uh-no! NO! A hah! I was saving it for someone… anyone… who might pass by! You want it?"

"Oh… um… thank you…" She blushed and sat down.

Oh, yeah! SCORE!!! Yahiko smiled. "So, uh--- the big dance is coming up soon… Going with anyone?"

-

Kenshin kept looking around for an opportunity to run, but it seemed that Soujirou and this new man, Usui, could find them before he could. I wish I had a weapon right now… but even if I did, I couldn't use it, or innocent people might be harmed, de gozaru yo… Oro… What do I do? What do I do?

"We're all meeting at our favorite place, Himura-san. I'm sure you'll like it too," Soujirou said.

"Tell me something, Soujirou," Kenshin said seriously.

"Hm?" Soujirou beamed blankly at him.

"What do you want with me?" he growled, glaring at him through his glasses.

"You're a silly rurouni, Himura-san. You should know the answer to that," Soujirou giggled slightly, making Kenshin wince slightly in horror of what could happen.

"I don't."

"He really is as clueless as Chou says," Usui said.

"-but, didn't he have any memories flash through his mind? I mean, he has almost gone Battousai on several occasions." Soujirou never stopped smiling.

"Well, find out."

"Well, then we'd have to carry him."

"Go for it."

"Okay!" Soujirou grabbed Kenshin's shoulder and forced him to look into his eyes. "Hey, Himura-san… Do you believe… in reincarnation?"

Kenshin's eyes widened, and his mind began sending flashes of memories that weren't his own, flowing into his head. He could feel himself falling, falling… and then everything went black.