Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Freedom in the Past ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of it’s characters. I only own my own characters (Michiko).

AN: Well, again if you find anything wrong or don’t like a certain thing tell me about it. Constructive criticism only. Tell me some of your idea’s if you’d like too. I don’t mind letting the people of my fics give me suggestions. Besides you guys are the ones who are reading this not me and since I want you to like it I think it’s only right if you want something in here. Well here we go don’t forget R&R!

Chapter 2:

“Uh,” Michiko moaned as she started to wake up but kept her eyes closed. She noticed there was something warm beside her and snuggled into it…and it snuggled back. Michiko’s eyes snapped wide open to see a sleeping Saitou facing her. Memories from the night before flooded into her mind. She closed her eyes and relaxed resting her head on his chest.

She felt Saitou put his arms around her and pull her closer to him nuzzling his face into her hair. She blushed a little at the action but then frowned, ~He probably doesn’t even remember what happened last night or that I’m here. He drank an awfully lot last night, he probably thinks I’m Tokio…~

“Michiko…” she heard Saitou mumble in his sleep and she turned bright red. ~Okay, so maybe he does remember…~ Michiko thought as she opened her eyes to look around the room. There was sunlight pouring through the window and Michiko had to close her eyes because she wasn’t used to the brightness. She noticed that her clothes and his were in a pile on the floor and she automatically looked under the covers. She was very relieved to see that they were both wearing clothes.

“Thank goodness…” Michiko mumbled. ~I guess I should get up now. There’s no way I’m going to be able to go back to sleep now. How should I do this? I don’t want to wake Saitou up. I guess…~ Michiko thought and turned around to move from him little by little. She was surprised to see that he pulled her to him so her back was against his chest. Michiko sighed and slowly pried his arm from around her waist. As soon as she had dislodged herself from his grip she quietly made her way out of the room.

Michiko found herself in the kitchen and she started to look through the cupboards. She found the ingredients to tea and a small breakfast of a variety of fruit. She set a kettle of water on to boil while she started to peel a banana. As she ate her banana she looked through a different cupboard and found bread. She took it out and cut herself some and a little more for when Saitou got up. She took out a couple plates and set the bread on it then she took some cups out.

Shortly after the tea was done and Michiko was eating her small breakfast quietly and sipping on her tea Saitou came into the kitchen. She was sitting with her back to the doorway and she didn’t notice that Saitou was there. She suddenly felt someone hug her around her shoulders. She tensed then relaxed realizing that it was Saitou. “Good morning sleepy head. I had quite a hard time getting up this morning you know. You wouldn’t let me go. I ‘m sorry if I woke you up. Have something to eat, I didn’t want to cook something and make a mess so this is going to have to do unless you want something else. Then you’re going to cook it yourself. Have some tea too,” Michiko said to Saitou while pointing to his plate.

Saitou walked around to the other side of the table she was sitting at. Michiko poured him a cup of tea while he sat down. “Thank you,” Saitou said and took the tea from her, “You didn’t wake me up so there’s nothing to be sorry about. This is the latest I’ve slept in a long time. I feel refreshed I should do this more often. It’s been years since I’ve taken a day off work.” He took a sip of his tea and grabbed a plum.

“That’s not very healthy for you, you know. You should take time off work when you’re overstressed. It could cause your body to breakdown otherwise,” Michiko told Saitou while watching him take a bite of his plum. “And now that I’m going to be your assistant I think it’s going to be my job to make sure you don’t overwork yourself along with all of my other duties. Okay?”

Saitou raised an eyebrow, “And what makes you think I’ll take time off work because you tell me too?”

“Because if you don’t listen to me I’ll just tie you to the bed or something so you can’t get up in the morning to go to work,” Michiko told him with an evil grin on her face, “But then again you’d probably chase me around and try to kill me when I get home from work and untie you. So I guess I’ll just have to knock you out before I untie you and find a safe place to stay at for a while.” She noticed the curious face he was giving her, “Or maybe I shouldn’t do that because then that wouldn’t really be that much of a vacation. More like a day in hell. So I’ll do that and I’ll stay with you and tease you.”

“Oh, it would be hell if you were here with me,” Saitou teased her, “Even if you didn’t tie me up it would be more hell if you were just here. But then again I could make it hell for you. A lot of people say I have a knack for making people feel as if they’re in hell…or wish they were there.” Saitou smirked as he finished what he saying.

“The day you could make me feel like I was in hell or wanted to be in hell is the day the ice is offered in hell,” Michiko told Saitou sarcastically. She looked around the kitchen and sat with her back against the wall. For the first time in a long time she felt comfortable, she hadn’t felt that way since she was very small. “Your clothes are comfortable, I think I’m going to take all your clothes. Sound good?” She told him with a small smile, “And your bed too. So it looks like all you have to do is take what ever else I haven’t got and bring it into the other bedroom. Sound good?”

“I’m afraid it doesn’t sound good. I think what’s going to happen is that today we’re going to go out and shop for some new clothes for you. Then we’ll talk about sleeping conditions. That’s if you will be staying with me. You told the Battousai that you would be staying only for one night. We wouldn’t want to anger him now would we?” Saitou told Michiko and took out a cigarette and threw it over to her. She caught before it went into her tea and lit it up.

“I can’t let you buy me clothes Saitou. I’ll feel like I’m using you if I let you do that. Now finish your tea and breakfast…if you can call it that…and get ready for a brand new day. I think you should take me around and show me everything today. And I’ve got to go talk to Kaoru about something we’ve got planned later on. I want to do that early enough because I don’t want to go there to late or anything. I think we’ll probably set aside a day for one major day of planning. And I want to get a good day’s rest tonight for my new job tomorrow,” Michiko said finishing her tea and putting her cigarette out.

“How about I clean up in here and I show you where the bath is and you can just go and do what girls do. Plus, I think you should think of what your very next thing to do is. You don’t seem to have your priorities straight. So think about things while you’re bathing and we’ll plan what we’re going to do for today,” Saitou told Michiko as he finished his cigarette and put it out.

She watched him silently as he stood up and put the dishes in the sink. “Follow me,” he told her as he walked out of the kitchen, “We’ll stop by your room first to get your stuff. If you need anything just ask. There’s soap and other cleaning things in the bath house. I’m sorry if they’re not the sweet smelling things that you women like to use but it’s all I have. We’ll pick up some stuff for you today so it should be fine.”

“I like how you smell. It smells good, but probably not for me because I don’t want to smell like a man. And for the last time you’re not buying anything for me. And if you don I’ll pay you back in full,” Michiko told him as they reached her room. Saitou waited outside of the room patiently for her. He saw her come out with some clothes in her arms, “Can you hold this for a moment, I need to get something else…” Michiko disappeared back into the room while Saitou stood there with the clothes that had just got thrown at him in his arms, “There, I got it. I’ll show you later after I’ve taken a bath and everything. That’s if you ever get to showing me where the bath house is.”

“You’re the one who took forever getting everything. Now, if you would follow me you would know where the bath house is,” Saitou told her and started walking towards the back of the house, “So I hope you’re ready for a long day because I’ve got a lot planned. Not only am I bringing you shopping for common clothes but you have to be fitted for your uniform too, for work.” They walked out of a door that led to the back of the house and made way for a small building in a corner of the yard. “Here’s your clothes, don’t be too long. I don’t want to waste anymore time today.”

“Okay, I’ll be out in a jiffy,” Michiko said and took her clothes. She watched as Saitou walked back into the house. She went into the bath house and looked around. Just as Saitou had said everything she needed was in here. She set her clean clothing, a brush, and a small black bag on a convenient small stand. She saw that there was already hot water in the bath so she took off her clothes and slid into it. She quickly washed herself and her hair in a matter of minutes.

~Well, I guess I think the first thing we should do today is go get fitted for my uniform. Then we can go to Kaoru’s and tell them that I’m going to be staying with Saitou, that’s if he doesn’t mind. Then we can walk around and check things out for a while then we’ll do some things that he wants to do, except for the shopping. Hmm, now that I’ve got the whole day planned out I should get dressed and see if Saitou’s ready to go…~

Michiko got out of the bath and quickly dried herself off with a big fluffy towel that she found on a shelf along with many other ones. She looked at the dress she planned on wearing that day. It was dark green with a silver dragon going down the side and stopped right at her knee. It was a halter top dress with a v-neck line that showed just a hint of cleavage. She put the dress on carefully and took a necklace out of the black bag. It was a silver chain with and silver and emerald dragon on it. She knew she wouldn’t be able to put the necklace on herself and decided to have Saitou help her with it. She didn’t want to break it trying to put it on her herself. Then she brushed her hair and decided that she’d leave it down.

Michiko grabbed all of her clothes in the room and put her necklace back in the little black bag. She left the bath house and made her way back to her room. She left her clothes her room and went in search of Saitou. She had taken the necklace back out of the bag and she planned on having him hook it for her.

Before she knew it, Michiko had found her way to a clean empty kitchen. “SAITOU!! WHERE ARE YOU?” Michiko gave up and just yelled out to him. Michiko stood with her back to him when he entered the kitchen about two seconds after she called him. “Do you think you could help me with this necklace? I don’t want to break it, it’s really important to me. So will you hook it?”

Michiko still stood with her back to Saitou. She felt him behind her and she put the necklace around her neck so he could fasten it in the back. After he had taken her hair put the silver chain underneath it she turned around. “So what do you think? Is it too much?” Michiko asked as she looked up at him. The emerald on the necklace went perfect with the dress and it really complemented her eyes.

Saitou looked down at Michiko and reached a hand up to caress her face. He was surprised when she leaned her face into his touch. “You look beautiful, there won’t be any doubt that you’re going to make the other women jealous today,” Saitou said softly in her ear as he pulled her closer to himself. He held her in a warm embrace as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Michiko rested her head on Saitou’s chest, “Thank you. I’m glad you like it. It was my mothers, it’s the only thing I have left to remember her by.” Michiko pulled a little away from Saitou to look up into his face. They’re lips were but less than an inch apart. At the moment they looked into each others eyes Saitou dipped his head down and gave Michiko a soft kiss on her lips.

“It looks stunning on you,” Saitou told her softly, “Come on let’s go. Where do you want to go first?” Saitou took her hand and led her out of the kitchen and out of the house. Even as they started walking down the road Saitou never took his hand away from hers.

“Well I was thinking first I should go fitted for my uniform so they’d have it ready for tomorrow at least. Then I was thinking that we should go to Kaoru’s and tell them that I’m going to be staying with you. That’s if you want me to, I don’t want to intrude on your privacy,” Michiko told Saitou. She looked up at him to see what his answer would be.

“Are you dense? I already told you that you could stay as long as you wanted. You’re right though, we should go get you fitted first. And they will have it done by the time I tell them to have it done. That’s what they’re paid for. I don’t think we’ll have a problem with that though, they have always had the things we needed most done when we needed them. This won’t be any exception,” Saitou said dragging her along with him.

Michiko didn’t have any idea where the tailors shop was so she made sure to note where it was and her surroundings. She had seen a few shops she wanted to go to after she had paid everybody back for their kindness and Saitou for letting her live with him. “I’ve never really been to a large city before, I hope I don’t’ get lost,” Michiko told Saitou as she tried to match his long strides, “You know it isn’t exactly easy to move in this dress quickly and look like a lady too. Will you please slow down a little?”

“Huh?” Saitou said. He noticed that he was practically literally dragging Michiko behind him. “Sorry,” Saitou apologized and stopped moving, “Why didn’t you tell me to slow down?” Michiko stepped in front of him as he was about to start off again towards the tailors shop. “You know you’re in my way and we’re not going to get everything done that we wanted today if you keep wasting time,” Saitou told her with a small smile on his face as he looked down at her, “Well I guess I’ll just have to carry you if you’re going to be that way.”

With that Saitou bent down to pick Michiko up. But as he did so he felt Michiko press her lips to his in a searing kiss. Saitou wrapped his arms around Michiko as her hands crept up his chest to rest on his shoulders. They finally broke the kiss when they heard some people muttering about how adults shouldn’t display such things on the street with children around. “Sorry for wasting time, but I…” Michiko said looking down, her face was scarlet red.

“That was no waste of time,” Saitou told her as he lifted her chin up so he could see into her eyes, “But we should get going now.” With that Saitou gave her a small chaste kiss on her lips and he led her down the street to the tailors shop. When they walked into the door, there wasn’t anybody behind the counter. Saitou went up to the counter and rang a small bell. There was a bunch of scuffling somewhere in the back when a small woman came out of a door. “I need something finished by 7:00 tonight. Can you do it?” Saitou asked her.

“Why of course Saitou-san. What is it that you need?” Saitou watched the ladies gave turn from him to Michiko who was standing beside him her hand still in his. “I take it, that whatever you need is for your young companion here?” the woman smiled at Michiko, “So what is that you’re looking for? And my name is Aitsuki.”

“I’m getting fitted for my uniform!” Michiko told the lady excitedly, “My names Michiko by the way. It’s very nice to meet you.” Saitou looked down at Michiko as she talked to Aitsuki. It was amazing how she could change personalities so quickly. She could be deadly one moment then as friendly as a butterfly the next. She really was something special.

“Umm…Saitou? You have to let go of my hand,” Saitou blinked and looked down at the one who broke his chain of thought, “I need to go get fitted for my uniform now. So do you think it’s possible you can let go of my hand now?” Michiko smiled up at Saitou as he let her hand go. “Don’t worry, I won’t be too long,” Michiko gave Saitou a small kiss then left the room to go to the back to get fitted for her uniform. Saitou could have swore he saw the lady smile at him when Michiko gave him the small yet affectionate kiss.

“I need you to stand right on here,” Aitsuki told Michiko as she pointed to a small stool, “So, how long have you known Saitou-san?” Michiko stood on the stool as Aitsuki got a long piece of measuring tape out of a small drawer. “I haven’t seen him so happy since before Tokio left. I happy that he found somebody else,” Aitsuki said as she started to measure Michiko’s legs.

“Well umm…actually we just met yesterday. I know it sounds crazy…” Michiko sighed, “Oh, do you think you could make the pants so that you buckle them around the hips instead of the hips? Right around here.” Michiko put a finger a few inches below where her belly button was.

“Yes, I can. It shouldn’t be a problem. you’ve only met him yesterday? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him warm up to somebody so quickly. Usually there’s something about somebody that he doesn’t like. He has a sense for that type of thing,” Aitsuki started to measure from the point Michiko had said she wanted the pants to start, “There must be something special about you that he senses. You know, many people compare him to a wolf. They used to call him Mibu’s wolf. Well enough of that. You can come down off the stool now.”

Michiko was blushing at Aitsuki’s statement. “I really don’t think there’s anything special about me. I mean why would there be?” Michiko stepped down from the stool, “What kind of sense are you talking about? Like something that tells you when a person is bad or something of that nature?” Michiko was confused by what the lady had told her. ~If he can sense bad things then why doesn’t he sense the bad things I did before? What is this lady talking about? I’m so confused…~ Michiko thought.

“Hold your arms out,” Aitsuki told Michiko, “It’s something like that. It’s more like if it’s a definite horrible thing that the person did. Usually like killing somebody. It’s almost as if he can smell the blood on them. You know he fought in the war ten years ago. He was the third leader of the Shinsengumi. He got his job as a policeman from the skill he has with his sword.”

“Really?” Michiko said as Aitsuki finished with her measuring, “I never knew about that, I’ll have to ask him about it later. So is this all you do? I mean measuring for uniforms. Do you make anything else?” Michiko wanted to get Saitou something special for everything that he’s done for her and she knew just the thing.

“Yes I do,” Aitsuki said, “I make everything you could ever think of. All you have to do is describe it for me and I can make it for you more than likely. Do you have something in mind?” She was curious of Michiko’s question.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just wondering for future reference. Well, it was very nice meeting you Aitsuki. We really have to be going now though. We have a lot we have to get done today. I’ll have you over for dinner sometime, that’s if Saitou doesn’t mind. I’m pretty sure he won’t,” Michiko told Aitsuki as they walked back into the main part of the store.

“Thank you,” Aitsuki said, “Saitou-san the fitting is done.” She watched Michiko walk around to the front of the desk where Saitou grabbed her hand in his. “Come back soon Michi-chan, don’t be shy.” With that they all said their goodbyes and Saitou and Michiko left the shop.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sorry the chapter’s so short and it took so long. I really did plan on having it done before now. But I had work and I have cheerleading regionals soon. Practice has been so intense. Not to mention I hurt my neck and back doing a back hand spring. Well anyways I’m sorry and don’t forget to leave me a review. I’m not going to update if I don’t get any reviews. So if anybody is reading this and they like it you should review so you can read more of this fic. I have a lot planned out for it and it would be such a waste to stop it now.