Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Feuding Hearts ❯ Rising Sun Covered By Grey Clouds ( Chapter 14 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The three girls sat in silence, waiting for someone else to speak up about the obvious.

Casey wasn’t there.

No one had seen her or had any clue where she could be. The last person to see her was Kyle, who regretted more than anything leaving the spot where she had been left. Maybe Casey did come back for her…

“I have a new name now, I guess you should all start calling me by that now,” she said instead of voicing her feelings. “Sukiko. I told Soujirou that was my name.”

“I told Aoshi mine was Shizuka,” Siobhan stated. The two of them turned to Alayna.

“I…ah…told Sano and Kenshin my actual name…” she stated quickly.

“ALAYNA!”

“And address,” she added.

Siobhan sought out a way to solve the situation while Kyle just smacked her own forehead with a groan.

“Okay, you need a new name,” she decided. “Anything you particularly want?”

“Ah…not really. Why don’t you guys just pick one out for me?”

“Let’s just name her ‘Hope,’” Kyle suggested. “She won’t forget it.”

“That doesn’t sound Japanese enough, though. If we’re gonna be stuck here we’re going to have to fit in. What’s the Japanese word for hope?”

“Kitai,” Kyle answered.

“Well then, say goodbye to Alayna. You’re Kitai now…”

***

After spending a night at the Kamiya Dojo for the first time as a trio, the group of girls decided to make a plan on how to find Casey. Over an...er...interesting breakfast made by Kaoru, they tried to figure out some course of action.

"Kenshin, what do you suggest?" Kyle asked, resting her cheek in her left hand and sighing. "You know this place better then we do."

“Why don’t we file a police report or something?” Sano suggested, food falling out of his full mouth as he spoke.

The rest of the room, however, didn't dare to breath or move.

"What?" the brunette finally asked, a piece of tofu falling off his frozen chopsticks.

"Sano...that's...an... actual GOOD idea," Megumi stated, her eyes the size of saucers.

"Hey I'm not-"

"He's not THAT dumb!" Alayna whined. Sano seemed proud that someone was coming to his defense until she continued on to say. "REALLY dumb...but not TOTALLY dumb!" Anime fall.

"Shizuka, is that your name?" Megumi asked, changing the subject.

"Yes," she answered, taking a sip of tea.

"You were actually escorted here by Aoshi Shinomori?"

"Yes, he was quite the gentleman."

"You screw?" Alayna asked vulgarly, elbowing her friend in the side and winking.

"NO!"

“Lord Aoshi would never do that!” Misao exclaimed in disgust.

"Fuck like bunnies?"

"HELL NO!" Siobhan expression suddenly turned to one of dire seriousness. "You didn't..."

Alayna flushed a few thousand shades of red. "AH NO! MOMMY NO!" she shrieked, grasping on to the taller blonde for dear life.

"That's not what Sano said..." Yahiko said in a singsong voice.

Sano spit out his water in shock as Yahiko sat back and watched Alayna prepare to rip Sano to shreds.

"When can you get a chance to do what Sano suggested?" Kyle broke in, hoping to save everyone from wearing his or her own breakfast.

“We should head out this evening,” Kenshin suggested. “Most officers are out on assignment during this part of the day.”

With that matter solved Misao jumped in with her own line of questioning. “So Shizuka, Lord Aoshi is okay and everything, right? The assassins didn’t get him?”

“You knew about them?” the blonde asked.

“You knew?” Misao wondered herself.

“Yes, he thought I was working for them. I had a Kodachi at my throat before I could say ‘AH!’ Then he apologized for the misunderstanding, I smacked him, and it was all good.”

“You smacked Aoshi Shinomori?!” Yahiko blurted out.

“He was yea close to killing me. I had the right,” Siobhan defended.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t have! That’s awesome. Aoshi Shinomori got smacked around by a woman.”

Misao reached to her right and whacked the loud-mouthed boy across the back of his head. He was sent face first into his rice and sat up growling at her.

“Can’t you ever act like a decent human being?” Kaoru asked, smacking Yahiko from his left and sending him back into the rice bowel.

“Now now everyone, let’s settle down,” Kenshin said in a slightly pleading tone. Everyone, of course, ignored him.

***

“Come on Shorty, get a move on,” Sano called out to Kyle from the doorway as she tried to fix her hair again. “We don’t have all day.”

“Just leave it down,” Siobhan called. “It looks fine like that.”

“I can’t believe you got me into a kimono again…” Alayna grumbled, shoving her hands in her blue obi like there were pockets. “I liked Sano’s clothes better.”

“Well you can’t run around like that, so learn to live with this,” Siobhan ordered, not in the mood to argue. They were supposed to be finding Casey, not looking good.

“Ah, Mister Himura,” a lean, tall man with dark hair and glasses called from behind the dojo’s gate.

“I’m apologize if I seem rude, Mr. Police Commissioner, but we’re in much of a hurry, that we are,” Kenshin apologized.

“I just need to ask you if you’ve seen three girls lately. They’re rather… non-Japanese looking. Blonde, the report says. They have a friend by the name of Hoshiko… no family name given… that is looking for them. A report was sent in to us not too long ago and I was just wondering if you have seen or heard anything as of late.”

As if on cue the girls walked out of the dojo, Siobhan dragging her friends out by the arms.

The commissioner looked at them, then the report, then them, then the report, then them again, then the report again, then back to them before finally stating, “That’s them alright.”

“I’m not Them, I’m Kitai,” Alayna stated proudly.

“I have great news for you ladies,” he continued, ignoring her. “Your friend, Hoshiko, has been found. She’s a little banged up, but still safe now.”

Siobhan placed her hand of her chest. “Oh thank God.”

“When can we see her?” Kyle immediately asked.

“I’ll send word to the man she is staying with. She should be here by tomorrow.”

“Whoo, she’s not dead!” Alayna rejoiced. “I’m gonna go find Sano and celebrate!”

“Kitai, you get back here!” Siobhan yelled, chasing after her into the dojo.

“I’m going to go make sure no one gets killed,” Kyle informed the two men. She gave a slight bow and thanked the police commissioner before scurrying back in.

***

Saitou returned home from work that night to find Casey sleeping peacefully yet again. He picked up her empty food tray just as frantic knocking began sounding from the doorway.

"Mr. Fujita sir!" someone was calling from outside. "Urgent message from the Police Commissioner."

"The friends?" Saitou questioned aloud. He opened the door only to be greeted by a very out of breath messenger who promptly passed him a slip of paper and then collapsed on his front porch.

‘Mr. Fujita, the girls have been located. They are currently residing at the Kamiya Dojo. I know you know where it is. They hope to see her as soon as possible. Please arrange for that. If you cannot then write back as such, and I will make the preparations myself.
Sincerely,

Commissioner’

So this girl was finally going to be out of his hair? He’d bring her there on his own. What a wonderful way to explain he wasn’t dead. He smirked at the thought of their shock.

“Too bad,” he spoke down to her sleeping form. “I could have done something great with you.”

He took a pen out of his coat and scribbled a hasty reply, handing the paper to the recovered messenger. He bowed quickly and took off running again.

“So your friends found their way to Himura’s place?” he continued. “What an interesting turn of events.”

***

"Wake up," Saitou ordered, attempting shaking Casey back to consciousness. "We're almost at the dojo."

Fortunately, for his purposes, she didn't stir. As the carriage slowed to a stop he moved his left arm under her legs, which had been over his own, and moved his right behind her neck.

Everyone was already impatiently waiting outside. Their heads lifted in unison as the sound of hoof beats became steadily louder. They shielded their eyes from the blinding sun of the clear June day as a tall figure stepped out.

Just as expected, everyone was frozen in shock when Hajime Saitou himself walked out of the carriage carrying a sleeping girl delicately in his arms.

“Fuck…” Sano and Alayna breathed.

“Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-you’re dead!” Yahiko screeched.

“I had a hunch you were alive, that I did,” Kenshin stated, smirking slightly. “A man like you would never die that easily.”

Without a word Saitou walked past them, smiling smugly as he did, until the tallest blonde girl ran toward him.

"Okay, now that you're all here I can yell at you. YOU," she began, turning to Alayna, "YOU just HAD to go off and EXPLORE. Nice '2 minutes' you counted there. Try two DAYS! And YOU," she continued, turning to Kyle, "You should have stayed on the path where I left you. I went back there and we could have all been fine and dandy if you would have just stayed put!" She finally turned to the sleeping Casey, not noticing that yelling was futile. "You had to PEE! Learn to hold it you- HEY! Bring her back here! I'm not done yelling in a stern manner!"

Saitou looked at her for a moment, not saying a word, and then continued into the dojo.

"She should stay off her feet for about a week or so, her legs are badly sprained. After that make sure she doesn't stay in bed for too long or they won’t heal right," Saitou stated, walking toward Kenshin. "Now tell me where to place her and I'll be on my way."

"Where'd you get that kimono, Saitou?" Sano asked after the shock had set in. He was sitting behind them, a piece of straw sticking out of his mouth. Casey was clad in a dark green kimono with a white obi, and that wasn't the one they'd described her to be in before. "Fancy yourself quite the drag queen?"

Saitou simply ignored him as well and followed Kaoru to a room where Casey could rest. Without a word he turned and left, only stopping to push Sano off the top of the stairs were he was sitting.

***2 days later***

True to his word, two days later Soujirou's figure was seen off in the distance from Casey's spot atop the Kamiya Dojo stairs. She smiled to herself, shielding her eyes from the midday sun.

"Mr. Seta, I presume?" she asked, extending her hand. She wasn't ready to walk yet, but there were plenty of people around the dojo to carry her here and there. He shook her hand with a slight bow, smiling sweetly as he nodded his answer. "Sukiko speaks very well of you."

Soujirou blushed, not knowing what to say.

"She's inside waiting for you," the girl spoke up, pointing through the doorway. "She's been looking forward to seeing you."

"Ah...heh heh...why are you telling me this?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at his ever-interesting feet.

"You love her," she stated with a rather blank face for the topic of discussion. "It's obvious. You wouldn't be here now if you didn't. There's no use standing around talking to the invalid, though. Like I said, she's been waiting for you, and I know she'll never have to do it again after today."

"How did you-"?

"Did I not just say go? Do you have wax in your ears?" she asked jokingly. Soujirou simply smiled a slight smile and ventured inside, warmed by the welcome he received and the words he'd gotten on the stairs.

***

"Hoshiko," Kenshin called, trying to find the girl since Alayna had left her outside. 'She said to bring her outside, never said anything bout goin’ back in.' "That girl reminds me much of Sano, that she does," he thought aloud with a laugh.

"I'm just waiting for the next guy to come by so I can be the wounded girl who gives you deep emotional insight," the girl replied from behind one of the nearby cherry trees. "But you're not newly in love, so there's no point in telling you Kaoru loves you. Now Soujirou, he needed a good reality slap. Maybe now Sano will walk by and I can tell him about Kitai's feelings for him."

"Why is it that you are so concerned with everyone's love life?" Kenshin wondered, sitting down next to her.

"Well if I can't love or be loved why not just help everyone else along?" she suggested in a monotone.

"Why don't you think you can love or be loved?" he questioned further. Yes, he'd gotten a strange feeling of emptiness from her ever since Saitou brought her here. That shifted his train of thought again, though he found it more practical to pursue this topic first.

"It's a long story, Mr. Himura," she sighed, shaking her head. "Just accepting it as the truth is easier than understanding."

Maybe this was a good time to bring it up. "Do you mind if I ask about your time with Mr. Fujita?"

The girl's heart tightened for a moment but she didn't show it. "Ah, you mean Mr. Saitou?"

"Yes, of course, Saitou," Kenshin agreed with a smile. 'Now why would he tell her his real name?'

"What is it you wish to know?" she asked, shrugging.

"He dressed your wounds?"

"Yes," came the blunt reply.

"And he allowed you to sleep in his home?"

"Yes, where else was I to go?"

"Did he ever take you to the police station?"

"No, he brought the paper work to me and questioned me from bed."

"Did you see a doctor?"

"Yes, he sent one. Why all these questions?"

"What's this about questions?" Sano asked, walking up to the pair seated on the ground.

"We were discussing my stay with Mr. Saitou," Casey answered honestly.

"Yeah, I meant to ask you about that!" Sano remembered, inviting himself to sit down with them. "How on earth did you survive? I'm surprised he didn't eat you or something."

"Come now Sano, Saitou was our ally, that he was," Kenshin pointed out, resting a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"I don't care, that doesn't change the fact that he's cold, mean and creepy. I mean, I wouldn't wanna spend second more with him then I needed to, let alone 4 whole da-"

Casey completely lacked the strength to actually hurt Sano, but when her palm connected with his left cheek it stopped his sentence cold. "I don't care what you think of him, he's still the man that saved my life! Why don't you think about THAT before you open your fucking mouth again!"

Kenshin could see the blue flames burning in her eyes at his words. However much he thought the moment to be significant, he was completely unaware that is was the first and only time it would ever occur.

***2 weeks later***

When she felt ready to walk long distances again, which was about 2 weeks later, Casey asked Siobhan to escort her to Saitou's home so she could return the clothing he'd given her.

"It's not mine," she had explained, folding the clothes neatly.

Siobhan eyed her friend suspiciously. By then she'd heard the story of what happened and she wasn't fond of some of the things Saitou had said to her. Also, Casey seemed deeply changed as well. The once fiery girl now seemed rather quite and thoughtful. It wasn't like her. However, she agreed to go anyways, secretly hoping to find Aoshi in town. 'I owe that broody man a poke.'

They set out down the path early in the morning and reminisced about back home and their times with who they’d stayed with.

"I still say you should have molested him in his sleep," Casey joked, elbowing her friend. Siobhan smiled at that. This was the Casey she knew.

"You would say that, too..."

The rest of the walk was just as full of laughter and neither noticed the distance until they got into town. From there they split up, Siobhan returning to the bar and handing off her glasses as Casey headed down a smaller path toward her destination.

She hadn't really expected to find Aoshi, but that didn't stop the pain in her chest when she found the bar full of nothing but drunks, yelling and smoke. She quickly left, deciding to find a more reputable place to wait for her friend to return.

'Alayna and Kyle are so lucky. I don't think I've seen either of them this happy in a long time. Maybe ever.' A heaved sigh. 'Aoshi's probably forgotten about me by now. How long's it been, two weeks? Yeah, I'd forget me too...'

As if on cue a tall figure was seen walking amongst the crowd, seemingly searching for something...or maybe someone.

'AAAAAAAAAAAH!' was going on in her head, but a look that could be called predatory was plastered on her pale face, making her green eyes glint with mischief. She stealthily worked her way through the crowd, ducking every time Aoshi's own green eyes shifted her way. When he turned down a side street she knew it was her chance. Without hesitation she extended her right index finger and delivered a mean poke to the man's left side.

Oh how soon she'd forgotten those reflexes.

"Hello Mr. Kodachi, nice to see you again," she greeted, quite chipper, and no longer phased by having the weapon poised at her throat. Actually, she would have thought something was wrong if it wasn't.

"So we meet again," Aoshi replied, pulling the short sword back. "What brings you into town again? Still looking for your long-lost friends?"

"No, some man named Goro Fujita had her. He'd been taking care of her since she got attacked the first night we got separated."

"That's impossible," he stated plainly. "He's dead."

"You know, everyone at the Kamiya Dojo said the same thing when he showed up with her," she explained, playing dumb. "She's on her way to his house as we speak. That's why I'm in town."

"You're serious aren't you?"

"As serious as I was when I said I'd poke you."

The two locked eyes for a moment and it seemed a flicker of something had broken through the man's mask. Slowly, without any warning, he began inching towards her, causing her to inadvertently back herself into a brick wall. Aoshi proceeded to move toward her, however, bringing his hand up to rest palm first, just above her left shoulder. He leaned in until their noses were practically touching, so close he noticed she wasn't breathing. He brought his voice down to a whisper as he spoke to her, "Shizuka, would you like to have tea with me?"

Siobhan's eyes must have widened to the size of saucers when he closed the gap between them and kissed her, though they eventually fluttered closed, leaving her to simply revel in the experience. When that annoying need to breath finally came into play they broke apart, Aoshi's hand gliding gracefully from the wall to her cheek.

"Tea?" she asked after they broke apart. "Aoshi, you really know the way to this girl's heart."

***

Casey fought back the memories of her first night in that world as she approached the small house’s front porch. With clothing in hand she straightened her new red kimono with a brown obi before bringing her hand up to knock. When she got no answer she hesitantly let herself in. She'd never seen the whole inside clearly before. Siobhan's glasses may not have been strong enough, but they were a welcome improvement.

She wondered into the small entrance room, kicking her shoes off as she went. It all seemed bigger the first time, but she guessed the view from the floor could do that. She stepped lightly past the small kitchen and placed her hand on the bedroom door. Strangely the action brought back Chou's words of warning. He would have told her not to come back but she just couldn't stay away. She banged her head once against the door and whispered a curse.

"What have you done to me, Hajime Saitou?"

She slid open the door and stepped in. It was like stepping back in time. Though now less blurry, nothing had changed in the room. She walked over to the futon that had been her practical home for four straight days and came to kneel before it. Without thinking she gathered up the blankets in her arms. It reminded her of how secure she felt there, like she actually needed something. Like, for some reason, she needed him around. She’d never really needed anything in her life. She’d always fought for what she had until it was hers. But now…this was different, and it scared the life out of her.

The vibrations of the footsteps in the other room didn’t reach her, so she had no idea she wasn’t alone. The sound of the door opening was lost to her ears until she could finally pick up the high-pitched sound of a sword being re-sheathed.

“You know, breaking into someone’s house is a crime,” he spoke from behind her. Her only response was letting out a breath she’d been holding in.

He took a step closer before she spoke up. “I didn’t understand what you said, but I know it’s you and you’re not some psycho killer and that’s good enough for me.”

He walked over to the other side of the futon and turned to face her. “Why are you here?”

She looked down at the blankets she was still clutching before throwing them like they had burned her. “I came to return the clothing. It’s not mine and I’ve taken enough from you as it is,” she replied, looking at the floor.

‘Such a stupid little girl. She has no clue what she’s gotten herself into. Returning wasn’t the best maneuver.”

Casey put the kimono on the futon and rose to her feet to leave. Saitou went over a split second debate in his mind before reaching out his hand to grab her wrist. She looked up at his smug face with fear as she turned to him, her wrist going limp in his hand. “What do you want?” ‘Kick him. KICK HIM!’ her mind was screaming to her. Yet her body failed to react at all.

“What’s mine,” he answered simply, taking a step forward.

“W-wh-what?” ‘In the balls! Kick him in the balls!’

“You said you owed me,” he reminded her, grabbing her other wrist.

“Ah….um…yeah?” she guessed, her eyes darting around the room for some sort of escape from his strong grasp and holding stare. ‘Just aim for the family jewels!’

“Well then I want to collect.”

“How so?” ‘Castrate him with a dull spoon!’

“I want you as my wife.”

~Sizzle. Crank. Creek. Bang. Boom. Smoke.~

Casey blinked a few times. She certainly wasn’t expecting THAT. “You- you -you…you what?” was all she could sputter out.

“Can you cook?”

“Yes.”

“Well?” he emphasized. He’d heard the horror tales of the Kamiya Dojo. Kaoru could cook, but that didn’t mean anyone wanted her to.

“I’d like to think so…” she answered hesitantly, wondering where the sudden string of questions was heading.

“Can you clean?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I don’t care to do either.”

“But…you don’t even know me,” she argued. This was all just too much, too weird, too fast. “And I’m only 16.”

To this Saitou gave a slight laugh. “You really aren’t from around here.”

“Why?” she finally asked, dropping all sense of confused shock for dead seriousness. “Why me?”

“It’ll make both our live more convenient. Face it, we need each other.”

“Convenient…” Casey repeated. “You know, Sukiko was found by some boy named Soujirou that night. Two days after she arrived at the Kamiya Dojo he proposed to her. That wasn’t very convenient for him.”

“Are you Soujirou Seta?” Saitou asked, still holding on to her wrists.

“No,” she answered, almost like it was a decision. She looked up into his eyes with a glint of determination in hers. “I’m not.”

Saitou smiled at that. He always knew how to get what he wanted. Everyone was easily played by their emotions; you just need to find the right one to pull.

“Then why compare the needs of our relationship to the needs of theirs?”

“Relationship?” she repeated, laughing a bit and quirking an eyebrow. “What relationship? We’ve never even kissed.”

Saitou took a step forward and leaned in close to her. “I can easily fix that.”

***2 months later***

Yahiko was sleeping peacefully on the Kamiya Dojo porch, the snot bubble growing out of his nose slowly rising and falling with his breathing.

This peaceful yet semi-gross moment was interrupted, however, as Alayna and Sano were having yet another fight. What it was about, neither could probably tell you, but they were fighting like someone had insulted someone else’s mother.

With little time and much fear for his life, Yahiko jumped under the porch and hid like his life depended on it. In a way, it did.

“You are so stubborn,” he complained, walking a step ahead of her and stopping her angered stomping.

“Well then you’re a hypocrite,” she replied, pushing him out of her way and attempting to continue on.

“Bitch.”

“Cunt.”

“Whore.”

“Cock-face. And I don’t mean rooster.”

“Fuck you!”

“Fuck you, too!”

“Marry me!”

“You-” she stopped her screaming and held her facial expression for a moment before it dropped to a confused one. “You ruined my comeback.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Sano asked. He was looking for a little more than that!

“Listen, Sano, sweetie, dear. Just cause all my other friends got married doesn’t mean I need to, too,” Alayna explained, her tone completely diminishing any assumption that she was having a screaming fit, not 30 seconds ago.

“No, that’s not it. Okay, yeah it was one hell of a bruise to the ego when Saitou, of all people was getting hitched before me…again…but I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t what I wanted.”

Alayna seemed deep in thought for a moment. She was going to have fun with this. “Well technically you didn’t ask…”

Sano sighed and rolled he eyes. “Fine then. Will you marry me?”

She bit down on her bottom lip and shook her head, seeming disappointed. “You’re not very convincing you know. Come on, act like you need to sell me something.”

“You really think this is funny don’t you?” Sano asked, a small vein beginning to pop out of his forehead.

Alayna promptly smiled brightly and shook her head enthusiastically.

“You gonna gimme an answer or not?”

“Well…can we still get drunk?”

To this he grinned. “We’ll drink more, in celebration.”

“Can I still call you a stupid fuck?”

“Why not?”

“So when are we doing this whole ‘get married’ thing?”

Sano shrugged. “I dunno.”

Yahiko felt a sharp pain in his head from all the confusion and emotional 180s. ‘Gah, these two don’t make any sense at all!’

***

Hawatari didn’t know what to say in response to the story.

“I owe your father everything,” she stated, finding a rather simple way of summing up the entire tale.

“What about the world you come from?” the daughter finally asked.

Her mother gave a slight shake of her head. “I don’t even remember anymore.”

“What happens now?” she asked, swallowing a lump in her throat.

“Tomorrow, after the sun dips under the horizon, I will go back to the very time and place I was before I entered your world. I’ll be 16 again, with no memory of my life as Hoshiko Saitou…”