Gomen nasai, I forgot to make an important announcement Ochita is not Okita Souji very muchly so. I can understand the mix up though.
I don't own anything, very muchly so.
Meetings
"How did he die?"
"Don' know but here 'e is, Takamori Saigo, bastard's dead as a doornail." Chou snorted giving the body a small nudge with his foot.
Saitou swatted Chou away and bent his knees outward so he could inspect the body a little more carefully. How did the man die? It didn't make any sense. There was blood on the wall but no blood on the man, not a hint that blood had been drawn from him. The cause of death was so unclear, it didn't add up. The police chief had called him down, had Saitou known a politician was coming down to Kyoto he would've set up security.
Maybe…
Saitou reached forward a white gloved hand and pulled down the color of Takamori's western shirt. There it was. A large irritated bruise. Takamori had gotten the garrote and he knew exactly who used a garrote. He growled inwardly. This whole situation was getting frustrating.
The Shi no Tenshi uses a garrote sometimes.
If it had been the little bastard then why the hell was the Tenken's name written on the wall in blood.
More importantly, whose blood?
Saitou looked around for clues but there were none. He'd had enough of this. Last year Toshimitsu Okubo went, now his son, that brat, Toshimitus Okubo Setsuna comes around as soon as Saitou gets word of Seta. Then assassinations pop up with the Tenken's name written all over them…literally. Finally, another major politician dies. It was 3 in the morning, They'd come over to get the politician to come down. They couldn't figure out when he'd died either, he'd been staying here in his mansion a week prior to his appointment. Thankfully this news hadn't gotten out to the public.
"Time to clean up," He turned to his assistant, "Chou, you inform the family of their loss, I've got a shit-load of paperwork to fill out." The cop muttered.
"NANI!? Iie! Nooooo way-"
"I suggest you do as you're told or you'll be putting your organs back in your gut." The psycho cop threatened.
Chou walked away grumbling.
What the fuck is going on?
Saitou sighed, like he said, he had paperwork.
"Ochita-chan." Kenshin murmured.
Everyone stared in disbelief at the strange girl staring day-dreamily off into no where. Sano visibly shuddered at the look in her eyes. Her facial structure was the same as Kenshin's and her bangs were finer but still slightly shaggy, like the red headed man hugging her. When the girl spoke her voice was day-dreamy but not monotone. It had a strange sway as if she were speaking in a trance.
"I do not know who you are."
Tears welled in Kenshin's amber and amethyst eyes and he choked out, "Don't do this to me Ochita."
"I do not know this Ochita of whom you speak." The girl whispered.
"Ochita, Kayo Ochita, Himura Ochita."
"I do not know this person, very muchly so." As soon as the girl said this she seemed to freeze up.
Kenshin leaned back with an angry expression on his face. He surprised everyone by back handing the girl across the face. The girl turned her head but did nothing. She didn't hold her cheek and she didn't yelp or even look startled. She just stared in a daze to the side.
"Don't lie to me! I can see the scars on your face, I can see your hair, I can seen your eyes, I can see your expression, and 'very muchly so'? What do you take me for, an idiot!" and then he lifted the thin braids hanging down by her neck along with short layer of hair that had been cut to cover the back of her neck, "And if I ever need more proof of who you are, all I have to do is look at the back of your neck!"
There, scared into the back of the girl's neck was the kanji 'Unwanted'.
The girl looked down, she didn't seem to want to face Kenshin.
"You've known were I've been, all ten years you kept track of me didn't you?!" Kenshin raged at the girl, then he seemed to break down and his shoulders began to shake and he asked, "Why didn't you come to see me?"
The girl kept her head turned away and she asked him, "Don't you remember? 'I never want to see you again demon child, go back to hell where you belong'." She turned back to him and asked day-dreamily, "I assumed you didn't want me around and after what I did to you I really don't deserve to be around you, Shin-san."
Kenshin put his face in his hands and groaned, "I was upset Mochi-chan (nick name i'll explain later), I didn't want you following me so I tried to get my point across. I was an 18 year old mess. I'd of gotten over thatafter the course of one year. You should've known."
"I do not deserve to be around you Shin-san."
Kenshin hugged the girl again and in a small voice said, "Don't say that."
The girl looked down slightly at her half-brothers back. She then, rather timidly, laid her face down onto his shoulder. Her arms slowly curved up his back and gripped his shoulders from behind.
"Gomen nasai, Shin-san." She murmured quietly into his shoulder.
It lasted all two seconds until she tensed up and pulled back. She began to make a small hum in the back of her throat and searched around wildly whispering, "Seta-san, Seta-san."
Soujiro smiled, as always, "Ochita."
He then began to pull himself over to her and she dragged her self over to him much to Megumi's anger. Ochita fell down. Soujiro kept on dragging himself over to her even though Megumi tried to stop him. Once he got close enough to the red headed girl he lay down next to her then rolled over, slinging one arm across her shoulders and pulled himself closer to her. He buried his face into her neck and began to cry softly. He didn't make any noise, just let the tears flow freely down his porcelain cheeks. He inhaled, and Ochita's scent wafted up to great him. The intoxicating scent of white peaches and rain water comforted Soujiro and he sighed softly.
"I was so scared Ochita, I thought you were going to die." He whispered, his voice shaking slightly.
That's when he felt it again, more powerful than before.
Kai managed to stay on his feet but Kasoku was blown back into him knocking him over. Yahiko slammed back into Sano and Misao flew backwards and would've smashed into the ground had Aoshi not stopped her with his arm, of course she was going too fast and Aoshi lost his balance. He quickly got behind Misao and they both fell to the ground, the icy man guarding the weasel girl with his body. Kenshin shot up on his feet and grabbed Kaoru's hand, pulling her into him before she fell backwards. Megumi whacked into the wall two inches behind her.
Everyone heard the soft patter of rain hitting the rooftop and ground outside.
Tears spilled down Ochita's face too, but she didn't bat an eyelash at them. She leaned her head against Soujiro and whispered softly, "I…was…scared."
She then rolled on her side and wrapped her arm around his waist murmuring, "Very muchly so."
The former Tenken blushed, looked down at the girl and saw a small twitch come to her lips. He felt his own smile tug harder at his face. How strange, she was amused that she'd felt something. Her amusement always seemed to entertain Soujiro, her small actions to show that she felt something, not because they came naturally, she always had to try to show him how she felt so as not to leave him completely in the dark. He stared at her before pulling her closer to him.
Since when do I initial hugs with people?
Soujiro pondered this for awhile until the answer became obvious.
Since Ochita.
He was so glad she was okay. So relieved, he felt so light as if a Zanbatou had just been taken off his shoulders.
Misao blinked a few times. It registered in her head that she'd landed on something instead of the ground. Something softer than the floor but still with a definite solidity and judging by the soft rise and fall of it beneath her she could tell it was someone. Her head was rattled and she just barely made out something beige to her right and left. The scent gave away who it was. Incense and green tea. Misao felt her face go bright red. She looked down and saw one arm wrapped around her hips and another right below her chest area. She tried to get up but Aoshi wouldn't let her go.
"Misao, get up with me, if you don't you'll be knocked down again." She felt the rumble of his chest behind her and blushed even further.
Funny, he felt so warm but his demeanor was always so icy. How on earth did he pull that off? Misao stayed still until Aoshi pushed her upwards with himself. When she got up she sort of leaned on him, his arm still wrapped around her waist. After a while she didn't feel the strange force anymore and she was sure Aoshi didn't feel it either, but he didn't let her go.
Hell, I'm not going to complain.
Kaoru was being hugged by Kenshin until he pulled back and looked at her. His face was bright red and hers had a small tint on it. He sort of backed away shyly scratching the back of his head.
"THAT IS ENOUGH!!!" everyone heard Megumi's voice.
Kenshin turned around just to be pushed out the door.
"OUT! OUT, OUT, OUT, OUT, OUT!!!" The fox doctor shrieked.
Kenshin 'oro'ed as the door was slammed shut in front of him. He frowned. That was his half sister in there. He spun around with a sour look on his face only to see everyone staring at him.
"Oro?"
"Don't oro us!" Kaoru snapped tapping her foot, "Since when do you have a sister?!"
"…." Kenshin smiled nervously.
"Man, how come you didn't tell us? And how come you're always freeloading off of Jou-chan if you have someone blood related to freeload off of?" Sano asked.
(everyone sweatdrops)
Kenshin sighed softly, "Because I though she was dead."
"Why would you think that?" Kai asked.
The former hitokiri looked down with a small smile, "I left her with Shishou-"
"YOU LEFT YOUR BABY SISTER WITH HIKO SEIJIRO XIII?!" Misao and Kaoru shouted at the auburn haired man.
"Oro? What's wrong with that?"
"You don't leave a child with that man!" Kaoru snapped at him.
"Oro? He raised me-"
"I think that's their point." Kai smirked.
Kenshin turned to the teen and frowned.
"I wasn't aware the Shi no Tenshi was that close to Kyoto." Aoshi spoke.
Kenshin's eyes narrowed, "Sessha would be very pleased if you did not call her that, de gozaru yo."
"What the hell is a Shi no Tenshi?" Kai asked, "That's what they called her before they started shooting yesterday."
"That's really not important, de gozaru." Kenshin said, his eyes narrowing at Aoshi as if daring him to say something.
Thankfully the tall man didn't make a sound.
"So ka? If it's not important than why don't you tell me about it?" Kai smiled cynically.
"Because it's a long story, de gozaru." Kenshin answered.
"How convenient." Kai muttered teeth clenched, "Why should I give a shit anyway? It's Koumori-san, she'll always be okay. Don't care who she is or what she did, if she lives through everything anyway it shouldn't matter that I don't know her." His shoulders sagged slightly, "She'll always be Koumori-san to me anyhow."
Then he spun around and snarled, "I'm gonna go see her. She's my sensei!"
"Hold it." Sano caught him by his bright pink yukata before he could go any further.
"Let go of me you damn rooster head!"
"Iie. Kitsune will really bite your head off if you go anywhere near her."
"Just because Koumori's conscious doesn't mean she's okay. She got shot in an artery. If she's not…" Kai growled and turned away from Sano.
"As to how she lived through that or why the pressure in the artery was low enough to heal, or how it stopped bleeding on its own and healed, I'm still curious." Megumi said as she opened the shouji before sliding it shut giving both Kenshin and Kai a 'go anywhere near this door and I'll kill you' look.
"Self hypnotism." Kenshin answered.
"Nani?" Megumi asked.
"It's a bit like Jin-e's shi-no-ipo. Ochi-chan told me about it to keep me safe unless I ever got injured but I can't perform it. Basically you picture a san (three) on the injury, then you connect the top and the bottom closing together, the blood will slow, if not, stop completely." The red head explained, "It is based entirely on the power of the subconscious."
"That's incredible." Misao breathed out.
"Che. You should see her run on air." Kai rolled his eyes.
"Run on what?" Sanosuke blurted out giving Kenshin a 'huh?' look.
"Heh…that is sort of hard to explain and at the present moment I have work to take care of. Like finding out how…" Kenshin trailed off.
"Don't tell me you actually believed that." Aoshi snorted.
Kenshin frowned and coughed a bit, "I…didn't know what to think when I saw her obituary."
"Wait a minute; your sister let you believe she was dead?" Sanosuke shouted.
"Hai." Kenshin whispered.
"Okay that's just cruel." The ex fighter for hire was seconds away from marching into that door despite Megumi's orders and giving the girl a piece of his mind.
"After what happened…and after what I said…I gave her…well I…" Kenshin was choking on his words.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru asked softly.
He sort of calmed down and wore such a stony mask that not a hint of emotion broke through to the surface, "I gave her the impression that I didn't care whether she lived or died."
Everyone backed up a little and stared at him, all a bit stunned by the strange and sort of morbid statement.
Misao of course was the only one who had the gall to ask…
"Why?"
Kenshin turned around and stared at her, his face void of expression. Quietly he stated, "She blamed herself for a mistake she repeated twice. I used it against her so that she wouldn't follow me once the bakafu ended, I didn't think it a good idea for her to come along for the sake of her weak emotional state, and my own sanity, that I did. I'm afraid she took my words to heart."
Aoshi stared at Kenshin and, not letting anyone else see, motioned first to Kenshin, then to the side of his own stomach. The ex-hitokiri nodded slightly. He then sighed and gave everyone a gentle ruroni smile, "She tried to help me forget her despite the fact that I did in no way wish to, de gozaru yo. She is an extremely wonderful person and I am sure she will…anou…well…"
"What?" Megumi asked bluntly, noting the nervous expression on the ruroni's face.
"She…anou…is kind of…"
"I believe the word you're looking for is 'strange'." Aoshi stated monotonously.
Kenshin laughed softly and scratched the back of his head, "She is just…different."
Aoshi suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.
"Now, now, you don't have to use such a variety of words to describe Koumori-san, when one word pretty much sums her up." Kai put on a wicked grin.
"And what would that be?" Sanosuke asked dully.
"Creepy."
Sanosuke turned to Kenshin…-.-;. and then to Aoshi who just nodded his head up and down in approval.
"Hai." Kenshin sighed dejectedly, letting everyone know exactly what his sister was really like.
"Like how?" Misao asked quizzically.
"You'll see." Aoshi replied stoically.
"I think I will go do the laundry, de gozaru." The auburn haired man muttered as he walked away from his crowd of friends.
"We have your sister."
"Imoto-chan?"
"The Shi no Tenshi will die if you don't comply."
"Don't hurt her!"
"We won't…if you do as you're told."
"What the fuck do you want?"
"You will become part of the Shinsen-gumi under my command."
"Not a chance in hell!"
"Then she dies. Your decision."
"Iie!"
"Then become one of us."
"…I…but…Wait, how do I know you have her?"
"We do, but were not going to let you see her if that's what your asking for. Even if we didn't, would you really take that chance?"
"BASTARD! She's frikken 8 years old!"
"You didn't really seem to care about that when you let her kill."
"I have no right to tell her what to do, I wasn't there when she needed me, and I don't have authority over her!"
"It doesn't matter, if you don't fight and if you attempt suicide we will kill her."
"…"
"Hm, hm, decisions, decisions. Traitor to allies or traitor to blood."
"…Family over friends and self…blood runs thicker than water."
"Good."
Namotaru grinned wickedly, looking down at the sight before him. Ichi and Ni were staring at him emotionlessly. Setsuna stood at the door.
"Don't you enjoy irony?"
"…"
"Ichi, go assemble our team."
For the first time Ichi spoke back to his master, "Give San back."
"I'm afraid I can't."
Ni's hand spazzed as he stopped himself from pulling his sword out. His anger rose but it didn't show on his ghost like face. He physically felt the strain it was taking to hold himself back from killing the man. Feeling his younger brother's rage, Ichi lifted his arm out in front of Ni to still him lest he do something rash. Both young men turned about and began to walk out the door, simultaneously; a tear trickled down both left cheeks. Ni looked down at his feet as he walked and whispered to his brother,
"It is an antidote to poison that we lack."
Kai shut his eyes, preparing for another nap in the sakura tree, content with the fact that his teacher had awoken just yesterday. Despite the fact it being 11 in the morning the young teen decided a nice snooze would do him good. Just as he started to doze off he heard an annoying voice say, "Lets spar."
"Leave me alone."
"Why, you chicken?"
Kai cracked a sapphire pink eye open and snorted, "Look, bakayarou, I don't want to fight, I'm not a samurai, hell I'm the bastard son of a fisherman or so I hear. I only train so that when the opportunity arises I'll be useful. I've been training everyday all day for 2 and a-half months. Now I'll tell you one last time to go away."
"Or you'll what?"
"…"
Yahiko was getting annoyed with Kai's passive attitude and decided that he could attack him. So he creped up to him slowly then lunged for a down-strike. Yahiko was flat on his back before he knew it, with his own bokken pointed at his throat. Kai had caught his bokken, smacked the middle of it sending the part in Yahiko's hands towards him, catching the handle and batting the younger boy out of the air, leaping down and holding the bamboo weapon to his neck. Kai slammed the bokken into the ground right next to Yahiko's head. He then grabbed Yahiko by the front of his yukata and growled, "I gave you your hint not to fuck with me today but you wouldn't listen so now I think I'm going to beat the shit out of you!"
The younger boy stumbled backwards and grabbed his bokken as Kai took his shinai off his back and got into a relaxed position tapping his foot on the ground, lightly hopping up and down. Yahiko quirked an eyebrow, "What the hell is that?"
"Shukuchi, ahou." With that said, the youngest boy saw a blur before slamming into the ground.
Shit he's fast.
Yahiko got to his feet, no matter how much it pained him and turned around to see Kai glaring at him. He began tapping his foot, but this time, a little bit faster. Yahiko barely managed to get his bokken up to block the shinai that would've cracked his head if he hadn't. He stumbled backwards being put completely on the defensive, blocking as dodging was out of the question. Kai zipped around quickly and loudly as he proceeded to attack Yahiko relentlessly.
Fortunately for Yahiko a certain violet eyed ruroni happened to hear the noise and walked around the side of the Aoi-ya to see where the sounds came from. Kenshin's eyes widened as he took in the view of a very pissed Kai attacking his friend. The auburn haired man's eyes really widened when he saw what looked to be around 18 down from shukuchi being used on Yahiko. He immediately ran into the battle to calm the two down but to his surprise Yahiko jumped out from behind him and tried to attack Kai. The pink eyed boy evaded easily then turned once again to the offence. Kenshin sighed and then pulled out his sakabatou. He'd stop this somehow.
"Ryu Dou Sen." Rocks were sprayed everywhere as a trench was formed, heading in Kai's direction.
The teen leapt back and then stared at the trench with great interest, completely ignoring Yahiko who was currently cursing at him with every swear word under the sun. The pink eyed boy then looked back at Kenshin and smiled, "Oi, do that again."
o.0;
"Iie."
"What did you call it?" Kai persisted with questions.
"Ryu dou sen, you should stop fighting de goz-"
Kenshin was cut off when Kai smiled and repeated the same action he had just moments before whispering, "Ryu dou sen."
His attack was in no way as powerful as Kenshin's but it was an exact replica of the technique. The ex-hitokiri stood there wide eyed and decided that fighting in front of Kai was a bad idea. The kid seemed to have a photographic memory. No wonder he was so skilled after 2 and a-half months of training. He could do it himself after only being shown once and had the initiative to train without being told, or hounded in the case of Yahiko and Kaoru.
Speaking of Yahiko he stood there stock still with what he'd just seen.
"How the hell did you do that?!" He shouted angrily.
"I did what he did. Why are you so angry?" Kai then pointed to Kenshin and stated accusingly, "He started it."
-.-;
"Both of you two stop fighting onegai shimasu." Kenshin pleaded.
"No problem, I didn't want to in the first place." Kai shrugged and climbed back into the sakura tree.
"What do you mean? You were being very aggressive a few moments ago." Kenshin pointed out.
"So? He wanted a fight and wouldn't leave me alone without one, so I decided I might make it somewhat interesting for myself, and see what he could do for a while. I could've konked him out easy but I didn't feel like it." Kai yawned as he shut his eyes and stretched.
Kenshin turned back to Yahiko who had a sour look on his face.
"Tattle tale."
"Wha? I didn't tattle, why would you get in trouble for nothing?" Kai asked sitting up confused.
"You two should not have been fighting without supervision at least, de gozaru yo." Kenshin shook his head.
"Why not?" Kai asked even more confused now.
"You could get hurt de gozaru." Kenshin laughed as if it were obvious.
"So, who cares, getting hurt is a part of life, get over it." Kai shrugged before leaning back again.
Both Kenshin and Yahiko blinked at that.
"You know he has a point." Yahiko said thoughtfully to the ex-hitokiri.
Kenshin couldn't believe he was about to start a conversation on philosophy with a fourteen year old but he'd do it anyway, if not for getting a point across, then for his own dignity's sake.
"You should avoid getting hurt at all costs de gozaru. It would be rather stupid to get hurt for no reason."
"There is always a reason when you get hurt, whether it's you being clumsy or someone being a jackass to you. You know that, like 'cause and effect'. My mom once told me that we learn from getting hurt. If we all avoided it, and never got hurt, we'd have a world full of idiots." Kai snorted, eyes shut, not even facing Kenshin's direction.
"That's kind of like the saying 'the only way we ever learn is through first hand experience'." Yahiko pointed out.
"Uh huh." Kai yawned.
Kenshin couldn't believe this. Every time the kid had something to counter his ideals with and every time they usually made a hell of a lot more sense. This was getting irritating. His eyebrow twitched and he spoke, "Megumi-dono would tear you apart if you got hurt, de gozaru."
"Yeah, Kenshin's got the bigger point here!" Yahiko shouted.
"Oro." The ex-hitokiri said rather dejectedly.
Soujiro's POV
I woke up with a large headache and my head swam dizzily. I tried to clear my mind from the odd feeling, to describe it I would call it the worlds worst hangover. I felt like something was missing and when I looked down I saw I wore a sleeping yukata. The heat rushed to my face when I realized that I hadn't put it on myself. I sat up in the futon I was currently settled in, and looked around the room. I spotted Ochita and got up, tottering over to her, and knelt down beside her. I stared at her sleeping face, as expressionless as it was when she was awake, and moved to bush her hair away, out of her eyes. I then moved his hand down her cheek, marveling at the feel. I realized what I was doing and snapped my hand back as if I'd been burned.
What the hell did I think I was doing? I Seriously didn't…right? The picture on how I felt when it came to Ochita was getting so big that I didn't know how to look at it or even where to start. Now I was…I don't even know what I'm doing. This wasn't like…not…Shishio-san and…Yumi-san? I remember how that turned out and I spun away. There was now no way in hell. Who said I felt that way anyway? I am emotionless remember…right? I don't know anything anymore. It doesn't matter, she's Himura-san's sister and I tried to kill him. That's just boarder-line…suicidal.
I peeked over my shoulder and looked at her.
0o;
"Anou…Ohayo gozaimasu, Ochita." My smile became strained.
Her face was not even two inches away from mine and she was staring at me day-dreamily. I felt heat come to my face and turned away quickly.
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Seta-san. O genki desu?" She said quietly.
I hated that. Why 'Seta-san'? It's like she's talking to an authoritative figure instead of me. I can't really say anything though. My stomach falls out of its place as I think that maybe it's a way to distance herself from me. I don't want to be a distant stranger to her. I don't know what I want to be to her but just not that.
"Genki. Daijobu?"
"Aa. I am fine very muchly so."
I turn around and she is leaning back on her heels, gazing in my direction but not quite at me like always. I turned fully around and leaned on the back of my heels before taking her hand in mine and helping her stand up. I saw the shackle on her wrist and I asked softly, "What's this?"
"A shackle." She said.
I turned it over and saw engravings on it:
Shi no Tenshi accusation-insanity
Ochita sentence-until death
Shi no Tenshi? I thought they were screwing with my head when they shouted that out the other day. I remember Shishio-san telling me stories about the supposed, insane angle that was condemned to walk the earth with the hated humans of, which he killed and still did, hiding up in Aomori and killing anyone that dared stepped onto his land. It had given me nightmares.
"Ochita..." I started but didn't finish.
I didn't know what kind of subject I'd touch and I wasn't in the mood for a spar with real swords. We found our cloths folded nicely and sitting in the right corner of the room. We each turned our heads away as we got dressed and found our weapons on the other side of the room. Getting them and setting them in their rightful places, at our sides, or in Ochita's case, on her back as well, we turned to each other prepared to leave.
I threaded my fingers through hers, it just felt nice, and I walked out the shouji, onto the enigwa. I sat down on the edge and Ochita sat beside me. Kasoku found us, strangely enough, and he toddled over happily, shouting incomprehensible things. Why hadn't the boy learned to speak? He sat down it her lap and hugged her tightly; Ochita put her arms around him lightly, to make sure he didn't slip off her lap. I turned to her and spoke, "Ochita, we need to go downstairs and let everyone know we're awake."
"Aa." She nodded and got up letting Kasoku slide off her lap and waddled behind her.
We both walked over and down the stairs where we entered a restaurant. Two women spotted us and squealed, running over and grabbing out hands, dragging us into the kitchen. They then told us to wait so we did…for a long time. Ochita saw that the food was burning and came over, picking it up and letting the fried vegetables slide onto a plate. Someone was calling for there food so she gave the plate to me and told me to give it to them, after taking off my sword. I ran outside and, smiling in my regular way said, "Sorry for the delay, we had to switch shifts for a while."
"Oh, sumimasen, I didn't know."
"Oh, that's all right." I chirped.
I heard something off to the side and I saw Ochita, taking an order, all her weapons gone except for the bladed rings which no one would recognize as dangerous. It was very strange to see her converse with a few men of who looked to be friends. She was polite and didn't say what she didn't need to. She had absolutely no idea that the men were flirting with her and it almost made me cringe. Even I wasn't that dense. She then walked back to the kitchen and began to cook. I didn't know she could cook like that. I came back after taking orders and watched her. She had a small twitch on her lips as she worked, enjoying making the dish look pretty. I helped her a little and we both carried out food. I couldn't believe I was playing the part of a waiter, but it was actually…fun.
To have a normal life like this…it was nice. I could get used to doing this, never wondering when my next meal would come, having a place to stay. I slightly wondered where those girls were as I watched Ochita leave the kitchen, her strange toe to heel walk making her look as if she glided. I stayed at the stove, watching something Ochita had put in cook. I then saw the side door open and it seemed all the residents at the Aoi-ya, filed in.
"Soujiro-kun your alive!" Kai shouted throwing his hands in the air.
"Ohayo Kai-san." I smiled.
"Souj-" Himura-san was cut off by the sound of a crashing plate.
We all ran in, Himura-san strangely in the lead, stopping us when we barely got into the main eating room. Ochita was standing there with her normal zoned out look on her face, but four men were fighting about, what else, the government. They were all slightly drunk and one shouted, "We need to try democrashy, it'd give the people more shay in what goesh on in Japan!"
"Iie. There are shtill many corrupt people in thish country. Thoshe who can't get rid of the old idealsh, why shooould we let them have a shay in the government?!" The other countered, obviously as drunk as the first.
Everyone watched as all four man broke out into and incomprehensible, slurred, argument that was becoming violent. The people it the restaurant were all terrified as one man began to pull out a sword. Himura-san stopped me from moving forward, giving me a look that said 'don't get involved'. He then turned back and everyone watched as Ochita whispered, "You are being foolish, very muchly so."
"Did she just say 'very muchly so'?" I heard the brown eyed kid beside me ask.
No one answered and he began to panic, "Kenshin do something, your sister is going to get skewered!"
Both he and I began choking, trying desperately to hold in our laughter.
"Get outta the waysh little girlyyyy." The man shouted after Ochita got between both of them.
"I truly do not think that I should. Before you try to clean up the government's act maybe you should take a look at yourselves, very muchly so." Ochita whispered.
(A/N: Sound familiar? It's what Kenshin said when you first see Sano, talking to the men in the restaurant.)
"Wha? Your goonna regret you shaid that brat!" The man shouted and tried to impale her.
Quicker than the eye could track the ringed blades were draw and used, Ochita ducking to the side slightly so now the sword was inches from the side of her head. Despite the dangerous looking position she didn't flinch and sheathed her weapons calmly.
"Oopsh, I misshed." The drunkard giggled before trying to move his sword down.
Unfortunately for him the tip of the sword stayed in place and the hilt of his sword moved down, not long enough to hit its intended target. As the end piece of the katana fell Ochita caught it in her long fingered hand. The man was staring at the broken end of his sword that he held in disbelief. Ochita held the end of the katana, pointing it at her offender.
"If you would be so kind as to leave sir, the door is right over there." Ochita pointed with her other hand towards the door.
All of the men looked at her and one of the more sober stated, "Let's get outta here."
All of them went for the door quickly, afraid they'd upset someone that had the potential to kill them. Everyone had witnessed this and the girl was about to say something but they all clapped. Himura-san walked forward and clapped a hand on her shoulder, smiling brightly, "Good job, your skill hasn't diminished."
Ochita's lips twitched upward and she tossed the end of the sword back, Himura-san thankfully clapping his hands on it as it fell, "I suppose that's more that I can say for you."
The ex-hitokiri ignored the insult and frowned saying, "Ochita, throwing knives is dangerous, de gozaru."
She turned around and stared day-dreamily at him. Her eyes stared off into nothingness and I saw many of the people behind me shudder. A small curve came to her lips once again and she murmured, "Gomen nasai, I forgot, you have a certain dislike for all pointy objects, very muchly so."
Himura-san put on a very sour face and he snorted, "You're not sorry at all, de gozaru."
Ochita's make-shift-grin became a bit wider but no more resembled an actual grin than my smile did, as she spoke in a zoned out tone, "You're right, very muchly so."
The auburn haired man's sour face turned slowly into a barely suppressed smile. He laughed softly and he spoke, "You really haven't changed, de gozaru."
Ochita still had on her strange expression, "Once again, more than I can say for you…or less if you think about it, very muchly so."
Himura-san was still smiling as he asked, "Ochi-chan, are you hungry?"
I could've sworn Shinomori-san gave Himura-san an 'are you an idiot?' look but I must've been seeing things. Ochita just turned her head to the side curiously. I tried hard not to sigh loudly as I realized that the girl never really knew the answer to that question. Himura-san seemed to remember and he spoke, "Never mind, seesha will make you something to eat, de gozaru yo."
He then turned to me and asked, "Soujiro-san, would you like to help me?"
I knew what that meant. It was an 'I want to talk to you' invitation. I just nodded happily, noting that Sagara-san was glaring knives at me. Shinomori-san didn't look as upset seeing me as I thought he would. Perhaps he didn't hold a grudge, I shouldn't really feel surprised, even if he did I suppose he wouldn't show it…openly at least.
I bowed to everyone before leaving and following Himura-san into the kitchen. He could cook…not really as well as Ochita but he seemed to not really care that much about what he was doing…almost like he was taking someone else's place…someone he didn't want cooking (A/N how very observant you are Soujiro-kun. He has deduced that Kenshin doesn't want a certain psycho tanuki in the kitchen, very muchly so.).
The silence seemed to almost stretch on forever before Himura-san asked, "O genki desu?"
"Genki. You?" I asked.
"Genki." He replied happily.
Another silence before he asked almost sheepishly, "Soujiro-san…I don't mean to be…prying or anything but…anou…Himura Ochita…she isn't…anou…Seta Ochita now is she?"
"ARA?!"
Womp!!!
I hit the ground hard and lay there dizzily (A/N Swirly eyed Sou-chan!). Kami-sama he couldn't be serious! I stared up at him, smile still stuck on my face, but now I was clutching my aching head. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks and I got up saying, "Iie. What makes you think that?"
"Anou…the little boy, he calls you otou and her oka."
"That is all Kasoku can say." I sighed, thoroughly worn out by my face plant.
"Aa. I was just making sure." Himura-san beamed at me.
I didn't know why I asked but I did, almost regretting it but still it solved my curiosity, "Would you be upset if that were the case?"
He heard my whispered words and his eyes widened somewhat, but just barely. He turned to the food and sort of thought it over before laughing, "Iie."
That really surprised me before he turned and asked, "Is it?"
I stared back at him for a moment before turning to the food I was cooking, smiling, "Iie, I was just curious."
His question still resonated through my head though.
Is it? Is that the way you feel or is your head just playing tricks on you? More than once you've looked at her that way and more than once you've wanted to know that she might feel that way for you. You don't deserve her though, you don't deserve anyone. Not her- especially not her. It doesn't matter that's not the case. But why does that lead me back to my first question… ' is it'?
I shook such thoughts from my head, it was stupid to ponder 'what if's and 'maybe's. I didn't feel anything. I tried to convince myself that it was just because she was interesting, showed me I was still considered human, showed me that my emotions weren't as far from the surface as I thought, made me think of things in a different light, gave me hope, was beautiful, cared…but that was the reason wasn't it. These reasons weren't just something I could stick the name 'excuse' on and leave behind in my thoughts.
And if it weren't the case than why did I want to see her smile at me…for me…only me.
I felt frustration burn inside me but my content smothered it out, once again leaving me emotionless to the world. My neutrality towards the world was in danger of becoming unbalanced and in my head I knew there were flaws in it already. I wanted to know things about her and I was now standing next to most likely the only person I could find out from, but something held me back.
If I ask, he'll think I care that way…and I don't.
I tried convincing myself of this. Funny, two months ago that might've worked but now the thought didn't seem to stick as well as it once had. It managed to lose all cohesion in my mind and merely slid away, replaced by a general unknowing that disturbed me. I was desperate to cover it up, desperate to at least place some thought there in its stead.
"Your food is going to burn Soujiro-san." Himura-san stated, jarring me from my thoughts.
I looked down at the rice and took it quickly off the stove. I was getting lost in my head again and I knew it wasn't a good idea…especially if I didn't watch what I was doing and accidentally gave someone food poisoning. I vaguely remembered seeing Chou vomit after eating something I'd cooked while talking to him. But that might've been because I was explaining how I'd killed the last man on another job I'd been sent on.
I dished out food and put it on a tray, getting ready to carry it upstairs. Himura-san was staring at me with a strange smile on his face…like he knew something I didn't. How irritating. We both carried the food upstairs, to my surprise Himura-san almost dropped quite a few things…but so did I. We made it up the stairs without any mishaps along the way, and entered the room where everyone sat around the table, many of them speaking to Ochita. I was putting food down when I saw Makimachi-sa…ma (A/N he stopped to think about the suffix because Misao is now the Okashira, very muchly so), when I heard her whisper to the girl beside her that I assumed to be Kamiya-san, "Is she even listening?"
I almost laughed but turned and saw Ochita clap her hands over her ears. Everyone turned to look at her and Himura-san frowned.
"If anyone is whispering, or rasping, please don't. She can hear you and to her ears it sounds like an off pitch scream, de gozaru."
New information.
I saw Makimachi-san blush and squeak, "Gomen nasai."
"It is alright Makimachi-sama, very muchly so." Ochita spoke back quietly.
"Ah, so you have met everyone then?" Himura-san beamed at his sister.
"Actually, she all knew our names." Kaoru giggled.
"Not mine busu!" the brown eyed boy cackled, he hadn't spoken up until now.
"Aa. I do Myojin Yahiko."
The young boy jumped away from the table. Then he pulled out his bokken and asked, "I haven't met you, how do you know my name?"
Ochita's lips twitched and she murmured, "Because I am a telepath."
I almost laughed when the boy yelped and ducked behind Sagara-san. The ex-fighter-for-hire pulled the kid out from behind him and snorted, "She's kidding, brat."
"Then how does she know my name?!" He shouted.
"Can I explain?" Sagara-san asked dully as he stared at the kid.
Ochita shrugged her shoulders and spoke, "I don't mind, very muchly so."
"Explain what?" Kai asked, now interested.
"Tha-"
"Perhaps not at the table." Himura-san spoke up sitting down next to his sister and quietly murmuring something in her ear.
I sat down next to Kai and Kamiya-san, looking at the two siblings with interest. Ochita was now whispering something in his ear and his eyes widened slowly before he frowned and shook his head. He stared at her for a while and she gave him her famous off-in-a-daze look. He then looked down towards his tea, staring at it in a manner that made me think he felt alone.
"I think that the table is a perfect place to explain things." Kai snorted.
"Ya well, Kenshi-" Sagara-san was about to start but Himura-san cut him off, "Say what you want Sano, its just that I don't recommend it when we're all here eating."
"Are you sure, you don't sound that happy about it." Sagara-san asked eyeing Himura-san strangely.
The auburn haired man replied beaming, "Iie, its fine. I'm just being silly, de gozaru yo."
"…Okay." Sagara-san said skeptically before continuing with his explanation, "Ochita-chan's not one to let things slide by without noticing, especially if it happens to be something, or someone she cares about."
Himura-san's lips twitched upwards at the justification his friend had given. Kai-san on the other hand interjected, "Why?"
"Cuz that's the way she is." Sagara-san snapped back.
"Koumori-san, you got anything to add?" Kai asked, his eyes glinting as they fell upon his sensei.
"What is it you want me to say?" Ochita asked quietly.
"I think he's asking if you're someone other than that." Yahiko grinned before making a face and baring pretend claws, "Like a traveling bandit."
I almost choked on my food and Kai clapped me on the back none too gently. I stared at Ochita searching for something. Just a twitch on her lips and nothing else. To my surprise I saw Shinomori-san pounding on his chest, choking on the food. Makimachi-san began clapping on his back asking, "Aoshi-sama, daijobu?"
Shinimori-san replied after regaining his composure, "Hai."
Okina-san began laughing at Yahiko which asked, "Nani?"
"Nanemo." He chuckled.
"Oi, when you fought back there you were really good. Were you taught by Hiko Seijiro XIII too? Wow, are you really as good as Himura?"
It was Himura-san's turn to start choking after Makimachi-san asked. Ochita's lips twitched upwards at that even more.
"Iie." She replied softly.
"Who were you taught by?" Yahiko-san asked.
I wondered if Ochita could just give information away like that. I was very curious myself, who could possibly be good enough to train someone like her? And for how long?
"Sei-ya." Ochita spoke.
"Huh?" Makimachi-san asked.
"His name is Sei. He is very old" Shinomori-san stated.
"Oh…but, what is he?" She asked before continuing, "And what were those things you were using?"
"Reh?" Ochita asked not really getting the first part.
Himura-san found no harm in explaining so he did, "He is a shinobi Misao-dono. That weapon was called Tenshi ha (angel blade)."
"Whoa, you're a ninja?" Makimachi-san asked, excitedly.
I looked at Ochita and she stared at me…or in my general direction. I wonder if she was a ninja?
"Among other things." Ochita said in her zoned out state.
"Wait a minute, you called him 'Sei-ya' does that mean he is like…Himura and yourjiji-san(grandfather) or something."
Kenshin began to choke on his food loudly until he burst out laughing. I saw his head tilt back and he began holding his stomach, his whole frame shaking.
"Nani?" Makimachi-san asked.
"Sei-ya is a little too old to be my great-grandfather Misao-dono."
I looked to Shinimori-san, his eyes actually shown with amusement before he said quietly, "He's also too tall."
"Oro?" Himura-san asked indignantly.
I just kept smiling, wondering who this 'Sei-ya' really was. I'd never heard of him before, not even from Shishio-san.
"Oi, do you use that sword?" Yahiko-san asked.
"Aa." Ochita replied, day-dreamily.
"You wanna spar with me later?" Yahiko-san asked exitedly.
"If you're sparring with him you're gonna teach me something new. I've been sitting around for two days, bored out of my mind." Kai snorted.
Ochita tilted her head to the side to ponder this thought before turning to Himura-san and asking, "May I?"
All of a sudden something happened to Himura-san. Something very strange.
Kenshin's POV
-Sessha said no, de gozaru yo!-
and I am going to listen, why?
-Leave sessha alone!-
Iie. I want out! That punk isn't going to spar with her first. I am!
-That's all you ever think about when it comes to her.-
Iie. We are one and the same there fore she is my imoto-chan too!
-Sessha doesn't want you causing an up-stir!-
Liar! If I know you, and I do considering I am you, I know you have a double motive for not letting me see her.
-You have just as good a view from your perspective as sessha does from his.-
Damnit what's your problem?! I wanna talk to her!
-Oh shut up!-
Now that surprised Battousai.
-Sessha doesn't really care how you try do defend yourself from this accusation or if you'll even understand what he's trying to say at all but when you come out she comes out and I really don't want everyone's first impression of my sister to be that of…-
Say it, a cold blooded killer. She's killed over twice the people Seta and I have combined. You think they won't notice after a while?
Kenshin stopped fighting Battousai knowing full well that there was nothing he could say to his last comment.
Let me out for a little while, I'll hint I want to spar and maybe after a while I'll let you have control again. Then you can relieve that yokai kodomo inside her that you didn't mean what you said.
-Sessha didn't say it.-
Now it was Battousai's turn to be silent.
So?
Kenshin thought it over, wondering if this was a good idea or not. His alter-ego's ideas really weren't so great. He felt a little strange. It wasn't so much that he was talking to himself within his own mind but that he had a shoulder angel and devil inside his head. It was the same thing everyone had. A conscious versus temptation. The only difference was that his were so opposite that they seemed to become two different voices in his head.
-if you are going to do this don't hurt anyone. And don't do this right away. I'll give you free reign for a while but leave if you think you should.-
Like I could hurt yokai kodomo.
So with that Kenshin let go.
Yahiko's POV
Kenshin was looking down for a while, his hair was shading his eyes which made me feel a little uneasy. All of a sudden he stood up and clicked his sword opened with his thumb, tapping his little sister with his foot lightly, before clicking the sakabatou back shut. He then walked around and out the door to the back yard.
"Oi, Kenshin, where are you going?" I called to him.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru asked.
"Elsewhere." Kenshin spoke coldly back.
I froze. That voice, he'd used it before and it was not under good circumstances. I turned back and saw Kenshin's sister's lips twitch upwards. I had to admit it, I agreed with Kai. She is reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaallllllly creepy. She looked at everyone with those HUGE moony eyes and her hair looked like a deep puddle of blood. I'd seen her teeth while she was eating and she had fangs. I was now convinced she was a demon. Maybe that means Kenshin's a hanyo or something. But she didn't turn her head up that often, trying to hide her eyes, and I couldn't see her very well.
"Sai-san, when?"
"After you're done with your first invitation." He replied icily.
Did she just call him Sai-san? What the hell does she mean by that?
"Ochita, I thought you usually called Himura-san, 'Shin-san'." Soujiro questioned, the dumb guy still had a smile plastered to his face.
"I only call him Shin-san when he is acting like Shin-san. I call him Sai-san when he is acting like Sai-san, very muchly so." She replied quietly.
I wonder if she spoke to loud if she wouldn't be able to hear herself or something. And what did she mean, acting like Shin-san. What was she talking about?
"Perhaps I should go down and wash the dishes, very muchly so."
Why the hell does she say that? Wait a minute…
"Oi, no you don't. You can't get out of your spar with me that easy. Com'on let's go." I called to her.
She turned down to that little kid in her arms and asked softly, "Kasoku, may I borrow your shinai, onegai shimasu?"
"Oka!" The boy shouted giggling.
The kid was kinda weird, he had this strange obsession with flowers or just anything that grows out of the ground. He whipped his weapon of his back and tried to bring it down on the table. To my surprise he did it veeerrrry fast. Ochita managed to catch it inches from the furniture though. He let go, looking up at her happily.
"Domo." She said quietly, standing up soon after and following out the door with me, putting her hat up as she went, Kai not far behind.
This girl, I'd seen she was fast but did she have anything else? She wasn't that much taller than me. How harmful could she be with a shinai. She's Kai's teacher, but he also learns from Soujiro.
I got into a ready position, she didn't really look like she was paying much attention to me.
"Oi, Ochita-s…kun, I'm going to start now." I switched suffixes.
Honorable 'fallen' isn't exactly an intelligent thing to say and Sano just calls her 'chan' but she's like what, a year younger than the itachi, so I can't call her that. She turned her head to me and her lips twitched upwards. For some reason the way she looked at me made my hair stand on end, despite the fact that I couldn't see her eyes.
"You shouldn't tell me when you are going to attack, Myojin-san. It loses the surprise effect, very muchly so."
Okkkkkaaaaay, whatever.
I ran up to her and came down hard, aiming for her head. She blocked me easily and sidestepped, tilting her shinai down so that I lost balance and slide down into her striking range. I was whacked, but not very hard. Heh, she thought she could go easy on me. I'll show that little girl. I put on a series of attacks but she blocked all of them, only moving one foot every single time. I couldn't even back her up.
"You're not very offensive are you?" I snorted.
"Anou…there isn't really any reason to be." She said to me.
I shouted and tried to hit her hard but she blocked again, and it didn't look to me like she was even trying. I bet she thought this was funny. This wasn't really a fight it was more like a useless onslaught on my part.
"Why don't you at least try?" I shouted at her.
"What do you mean?"
"Be a little offensive."
"Uh…Yahiko-chan I wouldn't ask that of her if I were you." Kai interrupted.
"Don't call me chan ahou! And why shouldn't I? What is she gonna do, give me the ugly eye or something? She's hardly taller than me and she's a girl who's not even five years older than me, that's not really much of a threat."
"Yahiko, really I wouldn't ask her to do that." Sano said nervously.
"What's with you? Why're you so scared?"
"Yahiko-san…anou…it would not be the wisest decision." Soujiro smiled.
"What is she gonna do?" I squawked, then turned to her and grinned, "Take your best shot."
A small twitch came to her lips and she spoke back quietly, "But it is not my intention to kill you."
"Huh?"
"But if it's what you want…" She rocked back on her heels and slid her feet back.
I was told I was hit a total of 12 times but I saw nothing and felt like a tree had just fallen on me. How the hell she disappeared, beats me. But I know one thing that I really don't get. The time she slid back on her feet was almost the same time I was knocked flat on my back.
I looked up dizzily and saw her standing over me with her moony eyes.
Her lips twitched upwards, "That's what you'll get. Myojin-san, daijobu?"
"H-hai." I stuttered trying to get up.
I stared up at her for a while before she caught my hand in hers and pulled me up. I shouted and stumbled back, falling down and looking up at her. She walked forward slowly and kneeled down in front of me. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, and chills crawl down my spine.
"Something wrong?" She asked me, removing her hat from her head and showing me all her face for the first time.
I felt the heat rise to me cheeks as I looked at her face. She may have looked really creepy, but she was also really pretty. She moved her hand through the air as if she were touching something, her fingers were really really long. I wasn't scared though…okay maybe I was a little scared. I tried to get away from her and she spoke in a zoned out tone, "No need to be afraid Myojin-san."
"What was that?" I asked, my voice shaking a little.
"…Just something I made up very muchly so." She shrugged.
I felt someone standing beside me and I looked up to see Kaoru. She helped me up and I hobbled back to the enigwa.
"Kaoru, did you see her?"
"I didn't see anything." She admitted turning back to Kenshin's sister with a thoughtful look.
I felt someone tap on my shoulder and looked up to see Kenshin. He was still shadowing his face and it sort of made my stomach fall out of place.
"Hai Kenshin?" I asked.
"May I borrow your bokken?" The voice was trying a bad impression of Kenshin's usual congenial voice, but this one was icy.
"Sure." I said handing it over to him.
He still hid his face as he called out, "Tenshi."
"Hai, Sai-san?"
"Any rules?" Kenshin asked and I saw a small smirk appear on his face.
Yeah, something was definitely wrong. Ochita turned her head down and hid her face with her dark red hair. Then something really scary happened. She put on this crazy batty grin, a sure sign that she'd just gone psycho. Her teeth scared the hell out of me and the way the expression stuck to her face made my skin crawl.
"As if you'd follow any of 'em if I did lay some down." I heard a voice that sounded like a blade being unsheathed come from the girl.
"Touché." He snorted.
He stepped down from the enigwa and walked to the center of the yard. We were all looking at each other, wondering what was going on. Sano looked pretty worried, Soujiro had a smile on his face (no surprise there), and itachi was rooting for 'Himura' not really getting that they were both 'Himura', while Kaoru looked like she was going to faint, Aoshi as stoic as ever. After a while of sizing each other up he asked, "Any last requests?"
"Hai. When you reach hell, put in a good word for me." She grinned back.
"Begin!!!" Kenshin shouted.
Domo, for the reviews, very muchly so!!! Keep doing so, Onegai shimasu! (chibi Ochita looks around daydreamily). I'll try to update sooner, very muchly so.