Well folks, Thanks to the hard work of my editors, Gerry-sama, and Muri-chan You guys get another chapter! Hey… Are you two still alive?
Gerry-sama: *Waves dismissive hand* Perfectly fine.
Muri-chan: ARE YOU KIDDING ME! You must have been trying to kill me or something! Don't give me Five chapters at a time and expect them back the next day.
Gerry-sama: Don't be a baby.
Muri-chan: OH PLEASE! Not all of us do this full time!
Ruroni-Chan: O—K… Well moving on… You guys go ahead and start the chapter and I'll tell you if we need bandages later…
A month had passed and so far, fights had been guarded against. Sano and Shiro had avoided each other, Sozo and Yahiko had basically become attached at the hip and Megumi was comfortably settled into a small room in the temple were each of the villagers came by and were checked out even if they protested they weren't sick. Megumi had learned that some of the younger monks knew about medicine and they often helped her, so she was fairly happy. Hiraru spent most of her time either helping Megumi collect her patients or missing, but no one commented on that. Even Akira-san was helping Kaoru learn new things in the kitchen, and around the house, and Kenshin helped out around the house just like he normally did.
It was half way through the second month, one month before the 'Hiraru's Festival' that things took a sudden and drastic change. A strange man appeared leading his horse up the stairs to the temple, while Megumi was taking care of patients. Megumi and several monks noticed the man, as he stood with a straw hat in front of the main temple. His clothes were the same general blue, well taken-care of Hakama set that Hiraru had worn when they'd first met. They were slightly more worn, but had a look of fitting him better. Only his straw hat and poor sandals looked new. From under his hat Megumi noticed the short black ponytail that ran from the base of his neck.
Carefully the man tied his horse to the railing on one of the side temples and went in. It took Megumi a moment to remember that was the house of the Head Priest. She finished with her last patient and headed back up to the house before the man left. Hiraru was nowhere to be found when Megumi finally got up there. Shiro and Akira-san had been looking for her all over.
Akira-san was asking Megumi if she'd seen the nineteen year old when a horse jumped over a bush and into the front yard. The gelding's rider directed it right at Shiro who had been heading towards the barn to see if Katsu was still there. Megumi recognized the rider right before he launched himself off the horse to tackle Shiro. It was the strange man from the temple.
The man and Shiro tumbled to the ground, wrestling for position. The strange man came out on top, practically sitting on Shiro. He punched Shiro several times before the slightly larger man managed to change position and try to at least defend himself. The man was quicker though. He pulled an eighteen inch rod out of nowhere and slammed it into the side of Shiro's head. This sent the taller man rolling. The strange man launched himself at Shiro, his straw hat left crumpled where he'd been pinned. He dropped the rod and went for Shiro's neck, closing both hands over his air way.
"YOU FILTHY, ASS FACED FUCKER!" The man yelled at Shiro, his voice had a similar ring to Hiraru's but several octaves lower, "YOU LIED!"
Akira-san was trying to pull the man off his grandson without hurting him. By now Kenshin, Sano, Yahiko, and Sozo were running up and Kaoru was standing in the door way to the house. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Akira-san was yelling pulling at the man's wrists.
"STOP IT," Megumi screamed racing to help Akira-san, "YOU'RE KILLING HIM!"
The man turned his angry gaze at Megumi, elbowing Akira-san in the ribs, "THAT'S THE LEAST THIS BASTARD DESERVES!" He turned back to Shiro. Megumi was struck silent by the resemblance between him and Hiraru. "YOU LIED TO HER!" He continued to yell at Shiro, his grip not letting up, "YOU SENT LETTERS IN SOZO'S NAME JUST TO TRAP HER AGAIN! YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN A TWO FACE BASTARD!"
"Tatsou…" The voice was soft and came from behind Megumi but caused everyone to freeze. They all turned and looked. Hiraru was standing in the pathway. Her eyes were wide in disbelief and her posture said every unhappy feeling that was passing through her mind. She looked from one man to the other.
"Hiraru…" The man looked at her in surprise, "You actually came… I thought you said you were going to stay in that Dojo until you had to come back here…"
Hiraru's face turned cold, "I changed my mind. I was worried about Grandfather."
The man's hold on Shiro's neck had loosened.
Shiro took advantage of this. He flipped the younger man so that Shiro could begin punching at the strange man. Hiraru's face became angry, "SHIRO!"
She strode across the yard and caught his arm before Shiro could make a third punch. She caught his arm with the forgotten rod and glared at him when he turned. "Hit my brother again, and I'll never let you come back up this mountain. Understand me, Onii-san?" She let her eyebrow rise.
Shiro let out a low growl, but slowly climbed off the other man and stood.
Hiraru looked to the man who was still standing up nursing the beginnings of a black eye, "Tatsou, what are you doing here?"
Tatsou blushed, "I got your letters… And Sozo's. I realized that Sozo never used that sort of formal language with either of us, and I realized the only other person that could have written it was Shiro. I got angry… And when I finished my job I was only a three day ride from here so I came. I just wanted to beat some sense into Shiro. I didn't expect you to be here."
Sano had been listening in on this. He started to chuckle, "You didn't have to do that. Haru's already taken care of that jerk."
Tatsou looked at Sano, they were about the same height. Except for the ponytail at the back of his neck Tatsou was almost the twin of Captain Sagara, same as Hiraru. He was just more expressive then either the captain or Hiraru. Tatsou blinked at Sano for a minute, then his confused expression changed to one of surprise acknowledgement. "I know you…. You're… You're… You're…" A blank expression passed over his face.
"Sanosuke," Hiraru supplied.
"Sanosuke!" Tatsou repeated, "I remember you from that time you came to the house with Captain Sagara. You and your friend were fun."
"Are you going to harp on me for pushing Haru out of the tree too?" Sano asked, having heard it from everyone else so far.
Tatsou blinked, "No… That was so long ago, I figure it doesn't matter anymore. Besides, your captain punished you pretty harshly. Why should the torture continue years after the offense has happened?"
Sano looked back to Hiraru, "Now this brother I like." He shoved his thumb in Tatsou's direction and headed back toward the dining room.
Hiraru smiled and shook her head, "I like him, too." She said in a low tone as Sano passed her. Sano looked back at her, he noticed the slight sag in her shoulders as she sighed, looking from her older brother to her twin. He almost stopped to see if he could give her some sort of support, but she pulled her shoulders back again and put her hands on her hips. "Sozo, take Kichiro to the barn. Give him a rub down and settle him back into his stall," She ordered Sozo.
"But…" Sozo started.
"Just do it, please."
Sozo pouted, "Every time you yell at someone you send me away…"
Hiraru waited until Sozo had taken the horse around the corner before she spoke again. "You two disappoint me," She said. "You haven't seen each other in five years and this is how you act? You two were rolling around in the dirt like a batch of dogs."
Shiro opened his mouth, "It's not like I starte…"
Hiraru's hand came across his face, making a loud smack sound on his cheek, "I don't care if you started that little fight or not! I'm damn tired of the way you treat each other! You're brothers. That means getting into play fights, talking about girls, going out hunting together, seeking each other out when you need help. NOT trying to kill each other!"
The two men exchanged looks, neither of which were kind.
Hiraru sighed, "What's the point? It's not like either of you are going to change. Tatsou, stay for our birthday, please. Shiro, you're not allowed to throw him out, despite what you want. Until then, if either of you starts fighting with the other, I'll disown you both, and never speak to either of you again."
The two looked at Hiraru in shock. Then Shiro turned to glare at Tatsou. Tatsou merely looked to Shiro calmly then back to Hiraru, "I can live with that for the next month."
"Shiro?" Hiraru looked to her older brother.
Shiro snorted, "Fine. I'll try."
"Thank you," Hiraru smiled softly, "Tatsou, dinner will probably be ready within the hour. I suggest you go bath in the river before then. Everyone else shows up in, at least, a semi-state of cleanliness." She turned her back on both of them and headed for the bath house herself.
Ruroni-chan: *Pokes stick at Muri-chan* Did you have to use the Volken Sleeper grip on her?
Gerry-sama: She was noisy. *Continues to work at computer screen unimpressed*
Ruroni-chan: *Whispers to readers* I fear my editor… Someone Save me… REVIEW… Gerry-sama won't hurt me if I get good reviews.