Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Come What May ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Come What May--A Sailor Moon/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover Fanfiction

DISCLAIMER: Characters do not belong to me; they belong to Takeuchi Naoko-sama and Nobuhiro Watsuki-sama (Aren't those two just wonderful?).

*I'm setting this story in the Sailor Moon anime continuity (with a hint of the manga), one year after the Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Season. Usagi and the Inner Senshi are 17 year olds and Mamoru is 23 years old. For the Rurouni Kenshin part of the story, I'm using the anime until just after the "Kyoto Arc" and then I switch to the manga for the "Revenge Arc". As always, if you are unfamiliar with any of these two animes, be prepared for some spoilage, light or otherwise.*

Chapter 9

By: Hime

Updates at himes_fanfiction-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

~*~*~*~

"Some love lasts a lifetime. True love lasts forever."

-Unknown

~*~*~*~

"What, wolf got your tongue?" The man in front of Ryu remarked, throwing his cigarette to the ground, before crushing it out with his foot.

In shock, the blanket fell away from Ryu's shoulders to land in a heap at his feet. "It's illegal to liter." Still agog at the man before him, Ryu automatically said whatever came to his mind.

"You never were this stupid back then. I see easy living has dulled your wits."

Finally snapping out of his surprise, Ryu shook his head in disbelief. "Saitou."

"Ah, the names not Saitou anymore, Battousai. I'm called Ookamino Seigi in this lifetime. Lieutenant Ookami Seigi."

"Justice of the wolf."

"How fitting my name is in this lifetime." Seigi continued on, chatting with Ryu as if they were old friends instead of the blood enemies they had been centuries ago. "So Battousai, what kind of trouble are you in now?" He asked again.

"Why do you continue to call me Battousai when that's not my name." Ryu asked with some annoyance.

Seigi smirked at the irritated man in front of him. It seemed that his temper was shorter in this lifetime then in his last. "Because a Battousai will always be a Battousai."

"But I'm not the Battousai, not anymore. You said so in your other lifetime, remember?"

"Oh, I remember." Seigi shrugged his shoulders before continuing, "But I just wanted to give you an easy out. I was being nice."

Ryu snorted. "You, be nice? Yeah, right."

With his eyebrow quirked, Seigi said, "Well it doesn't matter if you believe me or not."

`Well I don't.' Ryu thought to himself, looking at the man in front of him. "My name is Kohakume Ryu."

"I know."

`Grr.' Ryu felt his teeth grind together before he asked, "How do you know my name?"

"When you won that big case against the Mitsubishi Corporation, you're name and face were on all the papers and news stations around town. How could I not know it was you? I committed it to memory because I knew one day we would see each other again. And today I get a call about a foiled bank robbery and here you are. It's enough to make one believe in destiny."

Ryu snorted. "And you believe in destiny?"

"There are more things in heaven and hell, Horatio, than are dreampt in your philosophy. Shakespeare."

"I know the quote was from Shakespeare. I'm not an idiot."

"You could have fooled me." Reaching into his pocket, Seigi pulled out a box of cigarettes and his silver lighter. With a practiced flick of his wrist, a cigarette popped out from the hole on the top. Seeing as his hands were full, he lipped the cigarette before putting the package back into his pocket. Cupping his hand around the flame, he brought it to his mouth and lit his cigarette. Inhaling deeply, he let the rich smoke fill his lungs before breathing back into the air.

"That's disgusting." Ryu had a frown on his face as he waved the smoke away from himself.

"So's your face. Do I make comments about it?"

His eye's now in narrow slits, Ryu just shot the man a killing glare. Ignoring the look, Seigi reached back into his coat to pull out a small, black notebook, with a pen sticking through the wire hoops that held the book together. He flipped it open and thumbed through the book until he found a clean page. "Well, let's hear what happened then."

"Don't tell me you're primary on this case."

"I don't have to tell you anything. It's you who has to do the talking."

"But you're a Lieutenant. You wouldn't be stuck closing a small case like a failed robbery attempt. There has to be something more to this, something bigger."

Seigi gave Ryu a hooded look. "Give me your story first and we'll see what you need to know."

Now Ryu was curious. What was so special about this robbery that the police department would send a Lieutenant to close it up? There was no way for him to know unless he did as Seigi asked. Taking deep breath he said, "Well, I had just gotten in the bank when those three guys muscled their way in and said-"

~*~*~*~

"Everyone, put your hands in the air. This is a stickup."

Everyone in the bank froze, not knowing what to do in a situation like this. Even Ryu froze where he was, his ink pen leaving a blotch on his deposit slip as he left the tip to rest there on the paper.

"Hands in the air!" This time the order was given in a shout and now people began to do as they were told, either with great speed, afraid they were going to be shot, or slowly, afraid they were going to be shot. Ryu slid his hands in the air slowly, until his palms were parallel with his ears. The handle of his umbrella came to rest on his biceps, swinging back in forth as silence filled the room.

Satisfied, robber #1, Ryu had decided to call him that as he seemed to be the one in charge, stepped forward and pointed at the vault with his gun. "Who can open the vault?"

"I-I-I can." A man stepped forward, his hands trembling in the air. "Ah, I'm the bank manager. Please, don't hurt anyone."

Robber #2 stepped forward now and said, "We won't hurt anyone unless you give us trouble." Ryu noticed that both men spoke Japanese they had spoken with an interesting accent. With a nod, the bank manager walked as quickly as he could to the locked vault and began the combination. The door opened with a `click' filling the quiet room with the sound. The bank manager entered first and then the first two robbers. The last stood with his hostage and kept a close watch on everyone else.

"Ple-please let me go. I don't want to die." The young woman was whimpering in fear, her eyes arrested to the large shotgun in her captor's hand.

"Just shut-up and you won't get hurt."

But the woman was getting more agitated, Ryu could tell from the look in her wide eyes. She began to shake in her panic and Ryu began to fear that she would try to escape from the man's hold, which would lead to definite trouble. Perhaps even violence.

"Stop moving!" Robber #3 shouted at the woman and she cringed in his hold as if she would be struck. But she couldn't stop herself from shaking and now that his attention was focused on her, her shaking got even stronger. When the robber brought up his gun and aimed the end at her skull, Ryu moved. He dropped his hands, letting his umbrella clatter to the ground before kicking it into the man's shin. Surprised by the noise and by the sharp pain he registered in his shin, the robber let go of the woman though he never let go of his gun. Moving faster then he had in this lifetime, Ryu used that brief moment to get in front of the guy and shoved his forearm into the man's throat, bruising the windpipe so he couldn't give a warning to his associates. Now in deep pain, the robber let go of his gun to clasp his aching throat, which Ryu caught. With a quick and precise movement, Ryu brought the gun up and hit the man in the head, knocking him unconscious. He looked around and saw that everyone was watching him with astonished eyes but no one had let out a sound. Probably to stunned and scared to do so. He put a finger to his lips in the universal sign of "shhh" and waved to the man with the security uniform to him.

"Yes?" the young man whispered in slight awe.

Frowning at the admiration he heard in the man's voice, Ryu gave him the shotgun and said, "As they come out of the vault, I'll grab the first one and you keep the gun on the second." The young man nodded and carefully picked his way to the vault. After picking up his umbrella, Ryu followed the young man's lead. Stationed on both sides, they waited until they heard footsteps. Ryu watched the floor of the open door, keeping a lookout for a man's shadow. Spotting it, he waited as the shadow looked to lean to be one of the robbers. The bank manager walked out first, not even noticing the two people waiting by the door. With a quick yank, Ryu grabbed the next man that walked out, using the momentum to swing him head first into the wall. Stunned but not out, Ryu now used his umbrella on the robbers head and winced when he heard the `crack'. Turning, he saw the other robber with his hands up, the shotgun still in his hands. Ryu walked slowly to the armed robber and took the gun away from him.

Satisfied. Ryu turned to the crowd and said, "Would someone be so kind as to call the police?"

A gasp from the people in front had Ryu turning around to see what had happened. He found himself watching as the robber struggled for the shotgun with the security guard.

Finally yanking it from the young man and hitting him to the ground, the robber whipped around to aim it at the small redhead that was standing in front of him. To his surprise, the redhead was gone.

"Hiten Mitsurugi RyuTsui Sen!" A call cried out from above. As quickly as he could, the man turned his head up and was rewarded to see the redhead flying toward him. With a crunch, Ryu whipped the shotgun he held down onto the robbers shoulder, bringing the two to the ground. The two bodies stayed there for a moment, before the small redhead stood up slowly, as if in great pain, using the shotgun as a crutch.

"The police are coming." The young woman he had saved from being hit came up to him, offering her hand to him, which he refused with a small smile. "That was amazing. Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me. I didn't do anything." Ryu turned away to see that some of the other people had formed a small cluster around the security guard, checking to see if the man was all right. Hearing sirens, Ryu smiled in relief. Minutes later the doors burst open and police flooded in. Quickly, the group surrounded Ryu, pointing their guns in his directions.

"Drop the gun and put your hands in the air!"

"Oro!"

~*~*~*~

Seigi laughed so hard, his stomach hurt. Ryu gave him a glare. "I wish you would stop laughing."

"I wish I had been there to see it." Seigi said, his laughter subsiding enough for him to get his sentence out.

"Since I told you what happened, will you tell me now how this involves you?"

All signs of amusement were wiped clean from Seigi's face. He stared long and hard at Ryu, as if trying to decide whether or not to tell him anything. Finally he said, "Do you know about the White Tiger syndicate?"

"Aren't they that gang that's been in the news lately?"

"Yes. The White Tigers is a new yakuza organization from Hong Kong. Lately, they've been doing a number of operations here in Tokyo. Those three are members."

"Members?" Remembering the weird accent he heard from all of the robbers, Ryu nodded his head in understanding. `They all had Chinese accents.

"When the on-duty police saw a white tiger tattoo on all of the three, they called me."

"Ah. So that's why you're here."

"It's my job to break the organization up."

"But those three are on the lower rungs of the group, aren't they?"

"Yes. But with the White Tigers, if any of their members go to prison, they lose face. By using those three as bait, I hope to lure more of them into my hands."

"But what would they do to get their members out of trouble? I mean you have a room full of witnesses. There's no way for those three to get out of a guilty verdit."

"Yes, but witnesses have a way of changing their stories or disappearing." Seigi looked at Ryu with calm eyes.

"Oh, I see. That's why you decided to talk to me."

"Yes, I need you as a witness. I'm sure that those other people will recant and if they don't, they'll disappear. You on the other hand-"

"Won't go back on my statement and won't need to worry about not being able to take care of myself. But you're wrong. I have two children to worry about. They might come after my sons."

"Your two adopted sons."

"Just because they're adopted, does not make them any less my children."

"Especially when they are children from that lifetime." At Ryu's startled glance, Seigi gave a smirk and said, "Like I wouldn't be able to tell that one is that brat who kept falling you around and the other was the boy you saved from that Raijuuta person."

"How the hell do you know?" Ryu was truly angry now, his eyes glittering with tiny specks of amber. With an automatic gesture, Ryu reached at his hip, the spot where the hilt of his sword would be if he had worn one. With a surprised gasp, he shook his head and said, "I don't know why I did that."

"Of course you do. You felt that I had threatened or would threaten your little family, so you were going to see that I wouldn't." Seigi's voice was calm and he reached into his pocket for another cigarette.

"But I reached for my sword, something I have never worn in this lifetime, or in any other since then." Ryu was still upset, worried that that one move was telling him that in truth he would never be able to be escape the presence of the "Hitokiri".

"I suspect it's because I'm here." Inhaling deeply, Seigi let the smoke coat his lungs before letting it escape into the late afternoon air. "And just to let you know, my son goes to the same kendo class as your sons. It was easy to see them there."

Now surprised over a different manner, Ryu asked, "You have a son?"

Seigi showed a bit of irritation as he answered. "Yes, I have a son. Why does that surprise you?"

"I don't know. It just does. I guess I can't see you as a father."

"Well I am. I've been so for thirteen years now."

"Ah. So you're married then."

"Of course I am." For the first time since this conversation had started, Seigi was the one not having fun. "You can't see me as a husband either?"

"I couldn't see you as husband in that lifetime, how am I suppose to see you as a husband in this one?" Ryu gave a polite smile, one he knew would irritate the wolf as it had done centuries ago.

It did irritate Seigi, enough so that he gave a small growl. He narrowed his eyes at Ryu and said, "I'll have you know that I've been married to Tokio in all my lives since that one in the Meiji era. This is my third lifetime with her by my side."

`Three lifetimes.' Ryu thought to himself with jealousy as he looked at the man in front of him. `What did he do to deserve the happiness of three lifetimes with the woman he loves.' And there was no doubt that Seigi loved his wife. Much like the wolf he was named after, he would marry for life. `Don't I deserve the same happiness?'

"Speaking of which, where is that little raccoon-girl that managed to terrorize you into marrying her? I figured you would have found her by now."

"I-" Ryu was interrupted by a bright, high-pitched voice.

"Ryu! Ryu, over here!"

Both men turned to the voice and saw a small blonde girl, dressed in the Juuban High Scholl uniform, bouncing up and down behind the yellow line set to keep bystanders out of the crime scene.

"Who the hell is that?" Seigi turned to look at Ryu and saw the glow come to the other man's eyes. "Don't tell me that's the little raccoon-girl." Seigi said, his cigarette looking ready to fall out of his slack mouth.

Ryu sighed and watched as Usagi looked around and then ducked under the line, running to the two of them. A man in uniform began running after her, shouting at her to get back behind the line. Seigi caught the man's eye and shook his head at him, allowing the little blonde to reach them.

"Hi Ryu. Are you in trouble?"

"No, I'm not. Usagi, I would like to introduce you to Lieutenant Ookami Seigi. Lieutenant Ookami, this is Tsukino Usagi."

The two looked at each other with fairly curious eyes. Finally, Usagi opened her mouth and said, "I know you, don't I? You're from that other lifetime right?"

Seigi looked at Usagi, his eyebrow going up in slight surprise. "Yes, we knew each other back then."

"I knew it. I remember those eyes." She was staring back at Seigi with a serious expression. "Who were you again?"

Seigi almost lost his cigarette before he caught hold of himself.

Ryu laughed. "He was someone we knew, that's all. No one important." Seigi shot Ryu a look over Usagi's head. "I think you should be going home now."

"Oh, I was on my way home when I saw you here chatting," Seigi smirked at the word "chatting" but didn't say anything, "and I was curious why you were with all these police officers."

When Ryu didn't answer her, Seigi took it upon himself to do so. "Tsukino-san, Ryu was talking to me so I could get his statement. It turns out he stopped a bank robbery all by himself."

Turning to Ryu with excitement in her eyes, Usagi said, "That-that's amazing! You stopped a bank robbery all by yourself? That's so cool! Wow, you're really strong in this lifetime too!"

"I didn't do it all by myself." Ryu said with modesty.

Seigi rolled his eyes at the two of them. "Ryu is right. You should go home now. Ryu and I have much to talk about."

"Oh, of course." She gave them both a big smile and then turned to Ryu. "I'll see you on Monday, alright?" and she ran off to the sidewalk, turning to wave them goodbye. Ryu had a smile on his face as he waved back to her.

"She didn't seem like such an idiot in that other life then she does now."

"Usagi is not an idiot. She's just more free with her emotions."

"Oh, and she was really reserved back then too." Seigi deadpanned.

Ryu just shrugged. He knew that Usagi wasn't stupid; it's just that this life was much kinder to her. She had both her parents and she didn't need to worry about making a living or preserving and lengthening her father's legacy.

"So you did manage to find the little raccoon-girl after all. Though I suppose she should be called rabbit-girl now. I hope I don't have to remind you that in that lifetime, it was alright to marry someone so young, but today it's against the law."

Ryu gave him a frown. "I'm a lawyer, of course I know the law. I don't need you to recite it for me. Usagi's seventeen by the way."

"Ah, so she's not jailbait. You're just robbing the cradle."

"Just shut-up."

"Was she always younger then you in your other lifetimes?" Seigi waited for his answer, a good insult on the tip of his tongue.

"This is the first time I've been reunited with her since that life in the Meiji era."

"Are you serious?"

"Do you think I would joke about something like that?" Ryu answer was short, his temper getting a hold on him. He took some deep breaths, hoping that would help cool him off.

Seigi looked at him and wondered how that could be. Was he really that stupid that he just didn't find her in those other lifetimes? "So now that you've found her again, what are you going to do?" As soon as the question left his mouth, Seigi wanted to slap himself. `I can't believe I'm discussing Battousasi's love life! Or his non-existent one anyway.'

"Nothing, but be her friend. She has a fiancé in this life." Ryu said with a grim look in his eyes.

"How can she be engaged to anyone at seventeen? What, she's going to marry some puppy her age?"

Ryu gritted his teeth before answering, "Her fiancé is Chiba Mamoru. Our son's kendo instructor."

"Chiba Mamoru, hun?" Seigi's voice trailed off in thought.

"What about him?" Ryu voice was somewhat sharp as he asked his question.

"Last year, Chiba disappeared from a crowded airplane, before it left the runway."

"What do you mean, disappeared?"

"Exactly what I said. Gone, vanished, not there anymore. Then a couple of months later he shows up saying he had no idea what had happened to him."

"So what happened?"

"Nothing. He had no information and we had nothing to go on. We let the case drop."

"But you believe that there's more."

Seigi smirked around his cigarette. "There's always something more."

An idea came to Ryu. "That's why you signed your son up to learn kendo from him. You wanted a chance to keep an eye on him."

Seigi shrugged casually. "Well my child needed to learn and he's a pretty good teacher. Not as good as I would be, but I needed the cover."

"I can't believe you would use your child like that."

"He's in no danger and he likes kendo. It's a win-win situation." Seigi turned from Ryu and began to walk away.

"Hey wait a minute! Where are you going?" Ryu called out.

"What now? You want to go out for a drink? I'm on the clock, I have work to do, don't bother me." Seigi stopped to look at Ryu and made a shooing motion. "Go home to your kids." Turning his back once more, Seigi took a few more steps away before he stopped to say, "And don't forget to return the blanket you dropped to the paramedics. That's state property you know." And with that, he sauntered away from Ryu.

With a slightly confused expression on his face, Ryu stood there for a moment. He had just come face to face with one of his most bloodthirsty enemies from that lifetime. And they hadn't tried to kill each other. They actually had a conversation, or at least something that could pass for one considering who Ryu had been talking too. Ryu shook his head in slight bemusement. `More then heaven and hell, hun?'

Ryu bent to pick up the blanket he had carelessly let fall to the ground. He would return it and then he would go home to his kids. It had been an eventful day and he was beginning to feel the bruises he would be showing the next day. He hadn't needed to use any of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu techniques in lifetimes and he was dreadfully out of shape. `Too bad Shishou wasn't here.' Ryu thought to himself. `I could really use his training now. I wonder how much longer he'll be in America?'

~*~*~*~

The sleek black Porsche drove through the crowded streets with hardly a sound. Inside the car, everything was black leather and pure elegance. Mozart played from the six speakers that were hidden throughout the car interior. Stopping with the traffic jam as people curiously drove past just to see what was happening with all the police cars and ambulances, the man in the black car casually looked out through his darkly tinted window. A strong hand rested on the handle of the gearshift, the other had control of the wheel. Dark turquoise-blue eyes stared with cold fire at the scene he saw. `Stupid idiots, no one told you to rob that bank.' His hand briefly clenched in anger around the steering wheel before he willed himself to let go. There was no use in showing his anger on inanimate objects. That wouldn't solve anything. It would be better to focus his energies on making sure those three fools didn't make the White Tigers lose anymore face in Asia. First thing first, get those three out of jail and then punish them. The White Tigers were very good at punishing those in disfavor. In fact, those three would rather go to prison then face the leaders of the White Tigers. In jail they had a chance to keep their lives, not to mention their other body parts that the White Tigers would remove from them before they killed the three as brutally as possible. The man smiled coldly at the thought and continued to inch his way down the street. `Yes, first things first. Let's see what happens when the police don't have their witnesses anymore.' Standard practice with the White Tigers, if no one saw what happened who's to say it actually occurred.

Finally getting away from the traffic, he continued driving toward his home, a mansion, really. Business had been very good in Japan. This town was so weak, the criminal element just rolled over for the White Tigers, whimpering about "Sailor Suited Warrior-Women" who defended Tokyo with strength and magic. He snorted with disgust. Warrior-women indeed. The only warriors that were left in today's society were those who had the strength to take what they wanted. And he was a warrior; there was no doubt about that. As one of the founding members of the White Tigers, he showed he was strong enough to get whatever he wanted. And what he wanted most was the world.

~*~*~*~

Author's Notes:

This was a really fun chapter to write. I can't wait to have Seigi interact with Usagi some more…that should be even more fun. Anyway, I hoped you readers didn't think Seigi was too out of character. If you did, let me explain. First off, this isn't the Meiji Era anymore. His life has been, for the most part, violence free, well except for the violence he sees as a cop, but it's not the same as when he was part of the Shinsengumi. Also, he's had three other lifetimes in which to love Tokio and to grow and change as a person, though he does somewhat retain his "ahou" nature. And he's very, very happy the way his life is going at the moment. He has a wife, a son, and a job that he loves. If you think Ryu is acting OOC because he was actually somewhat rude to Seigi, just remember that he has learned about his own self-worth and he has lost that guilt he had in his other lifetime through the other lives he has lived. In this lifetime, he carries no scar to remind him of his darkest moment.

As for Hiko, sorry but he's not going to show up in this fic though his character does have a role in this story. Yes, he has been reincarnated and like I said above, his character is in America at the moment. Hey, if I actually had him appear, he would end up saving the day and where would that leave Ryu and the Sailor Senshi? And I hope you guys can guess whom I'm referring to at the end of this chapter. Well if you didn't guess, that's okay, you'll get to see some more of him soon enough.

Hime

6/30/02