Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Nothing but Nakedness ❯ Meet in the Street ( Chapter 2 )

WARNING: This chapter contains mass violence

Rating has been changed to R as has been advised

Chapter dedicated to: Kamimura Kaoru and Sita who reviewed my fic, thankyou both

Nothing but Nakedness

Chapter Two: Meet in the Street

"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways."
-Buddha

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On the road to Shishio's base which is situated just outside of Edo

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"Daijoubu des ka?" Yumi asked, she had been watching Megumi for a while now and it seemed to her that the younger girl looked rather sickly.

"I'm fine, really" Megumi cursed herself mentally `I cant let her see what I mean to do. If she somehow survives then she cant see that I had any part in it or ill have all of Shishio's troops out searching for me.' Trying to persuade Yumi that she was ok Megumi smiled slightly and shook her head "I am so silly, I get motion sickness sometimes, its nothing, it'll pass soon." The older woman just smiled and shrugged turning back to the window of her carriage.

"Whatever you say dear"

Megumi looked over at the older woman with remorse etched on her face and she thanked her lucky stars that Yumi was facing the other way at that moment `I hate to do this, but I have to, there's no other way out of this, damn that Enishi, when all this is over I'll personally slip some poison into his drink, the itachi!'

Running her hands through her long black hair Megumi rolled her neck.

"How many guards would you say we have?" she asked, trying to sound casual

Yumi looked over at her and shrugged "doushite?"

"I just have an uneasy feeling is all, I'd just like to make sure we will be properly looked after" Yumi smiled

"Oh, don't worry, there's around two dozen men around us that will lay down their lives for us, all curtesy of Shishio" Megumi smiled slowly and nodded her head

"Great, that makes me feel wonderful, thought it would be good if I knew how to fight for myself." Yumi shrugged

"Why do that when we have all these strong muscly men to do that for us?" Yumi started to laugh and turned back to the window, he words did not quell her own fear `something is very wrong, I can feel it, oh if only we could go faster, I know I would be safe in Shishio's arms.'

A loud thump from outside the carriage alerted the two women that something was going on, the sudden lurch of the carriage as it stopped quickly and the shouts of men forced the two women to crouch down near the seats.

"You were saying?" Megumi said

Yumi frowned "perhaps I was wrong, right now I would love to know how to fight."

Both women jerked back as the door opened to revel a handsome young man with stark white hair and light turquoise eyes, the young man pulled his sunglasses down from his nose to take a better look at the women and smiled charmingly. Then without warning his hand snaked in and pulled Megumi out of the carriage forcefully, meanwhile Megumi was trying her hardest to act scared and was screaming and calling for help, while the men outside were laughing and carrying on like idiots. All that was left now was Yumi; her eyes were wide with fright.

"What do you want with me?" she asked, her hands clutched under her chin and tears falling from her beautiful dark eyes.

"Your going to be my message," the shirage young man stated before knocking the woman unconscious. He then hopped inside the carriage and pulled out a small but very sharp throwing knife and pulled the girls check towards him, and with a carefully practised hand wrote his name on the side of Yumi's face, the cute deep enough to scar but not too deep as to cause too much blood to flow and kill the woman before Shishio's troops arrive to see what was taking the train of carriages so long. Satisfied with his work Enishi wiped the blade with the woman dress and then jumped out of the carriage

"Lets go!"

And the group of men with Megumi left the carnage and headed further south, to be closer to Aizu and the Kamiya dojo.

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Forest path to Otako one mile away

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`Oh great, just great, this is exactly where I want to be, stupid Misao for giving me this assignment, I hate them all. And now I'm walking in a forest, by myself with only basic self defence training and its almost dark. Fantastic, just bloody GREAT!' sighing in annoyance Setsuae glanced around her, suddenly aware that she was being watched `how far away from the city would I be?' looking around her and then at the position of the sun she grinned `if I run as fast as I can, I can reach it way before the sun sets, and hopefully get whoever is on my trail to back away' not even waiting for her brain to go over the pros and cons of this kind of decision Setsuae broke out into a dead run, her ears picking up the sound of pursuers and she picked up her pace `not to far, not to far!'

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The Chosuhuu Ishin Shishi main base- Otako

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The dark alleyway to the front entrance of the base was well hidden and the abandoned houses gave a formidable welcoming committee. Yahiko gulped loudly as the alley darkened to envelope both Kenshin and himself. Kenshin stepped to the side and pulled Yahiko after him and opened a side door that flooded both boys' senses so intensely that they were momentarily blinded and this allowed the hitokiri inside the small guard house time to search for ID.

"Ah, Batousai, you have come back, and with extra luggage I see" Kenshin looked up and smiled while he bowed in respect.

"Hiko, sensei"

"Baka deshi, come on our great and fearless leader wants to speak with you about your next assignment." Kenshin grinned and pulled Yahiko with him. At Hiko's raised eyebrow Kenshin explained

"New recruit!" Yahiko's eyes widened `so, when was he going to tell me that?'

They continued down the drab hallway, the crumbling walls flaking with dirt and the dank smell of moulding woodwork tickled Yahiko's nose as he followed sensei and deshi towards a flight of stairs. There were masses of hitokiri just lying around, some were playing cards and drinking, others sharpening swords and they passed training rooms where some of them were practising their kata or sparing against one another. Yahiko wasn't even paying attention and almost walked straight into Kenshin when they stopped at a closed door that was being guarded by two heavy set men, obviously there for their brawn and not their brains.

"Hiko, Batousai, Yahiko" those three words allowed entry into the room, and Yahiko followed closely behind, not at all comfortable at being in a base full of trained killers. The room was smaller then the others, one whole wall was filled to the brim with books while the other wall held different weapons ranging from miniature daggers to the long swords and samurai. Yahiko took it all in, the last thing he noticed was the small round table where three other men sat, they were up to their elbows in folders and papers, and hadn't even noticed that they had company. Hiko cleared his throat, allowing the men gathered at the table time to collect themselves before all three of the new arrivals sat down in the spar seats.

"Kenshin, back so soon?" Kogorou Katsura said, placing his papers down on the table and shaking hands with his best hitokiri, Kenshin grimaced

"You could have sent a trainee to do the job, it was too simple" Katsura nodded his head and looked back at his papers

"That was the last of the more trained generals, now they will fill their places with incompetent soldiers, who will run and hide at the sight of us." All present nodded "so…..whose this?" the direction was pointed at Yahiko

"His name is Myojin Yahiko, he's a master thief, stole my identification right from my neck, and he has some potential in becoming a great fighter, I wish to take him on as a deshi" there was a brief silence that was only broken from a cough from Hiko

"And what about me? Do I not have a say in this?" Kenshin rolled his eyes and clapped his old sensei on the shoulder

"You were a great teacher, now let me have my turn." Hiko glared at his ex-student

"If you would let me speak! I was going to say that you could get in extra training if you took him over to the Kamiya Kastushin Ryu, where they have teachers on every subject, that way when the kid's learning about normal stuff then you can get in some training for yourself, plus I do believe that you wanted him to go there anyway, sou des ka?"

Katsura grinned and pulled out a few files "sou da ne, there's been some speculation that Enishi has people situated at our safe house, so we wanted one of our own to go there, and what better person to send then our own Batousai to scare them off." Kenshin shook his head

"You all put too much on reputation" but a smile tugged at his lips anyway.

"Then it's settled, you and your friend here will be headed off to Aizu tomorrow morning."

"And what about our supplies?" Yahiko asked, actually feeling safe again, now that he realised that these people weren't all cutthroats and blood lords. The men around the table smiled

"All taken care of, now, off you go, celebrate, sleep whatever, just be here tomorrow morning at six."

Kenshin, Yahiko and Hiko bowed and left the room, Yahiko supported a huge smile on his face `finally, I'll have a stable job, not a very nice job, but one that pays.'

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City centre-Otako

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"I can't believe that I'm your deshi, this is so exciting, nothing like this has ever happened to me before" Kenshin shrugged it off,

"Well, lets just say that someone must be OUMF!" Yahiko stopped walking and turned back to where Kenshin was, lying on the ground and tangled up with some girl who was frantically trying to get away from him

"DON'T HIT ME!" she screamed, and both men had to hold their hands over their ears because of the pitch her voice hit. Kenshin finally pulled himself from the girl and looked to Yahiko who just shrugged, he didn't have this kind of experience, usually it was pick and run.

"Its ok, I wont hit you" Kenshin said, kneeling on the ground where the girl sat huddled, they had drawn a small crowd who were whispering about the akage man who was hitting a kawaisou ni. The girl looked up then, and Yahiko took in a sharp breath, the girl's eyes were a piercing blue and seared right through everyone she looked at. Here eyes then rested on Kenshin and she seemed to snap out of whatever zone she was in and stand up abruptly.

"Gomen nasai, I didn't see you, I……I was being chased and I…. Please forgive me" Kenshin just nodded his head and smiled slightly

"Are you sure your alright?" the girl nodded her head, and took a quick glance around the area, and that was when her eyes rested on a group of men coming towards them. Her eyes narrowed and she pulled out a small dagger. Kenshin and Yahiko followed her gaze and both frowned `why are these men following this small girl for?' Kenshin just shook his head and gently nudged the girl to step behind him

"Yahiko, watch her, and make sure that if any get passed me, don't let them get to her." Yahiko nodded his head and caught the Renbatou that Kenshin threw him and then pulled the shorter girl behind him to guard her.

"You don't have to do this" the girl said, her voice small and frightened. Kenshin turned back to her and shrugged

"True, but I have a feeling about you"

Both Yahiko and the blue-eyed girl watched as Kenshin unsheathed his katana and twirled it menacingly at his opponents, letting the metal catch the dying rays of the sun. The on lookers had diminished, sword fights were something one didn't want to get caught up in, unless one had a death wish.

There were ten in all, every one of them was tall, and well muscled and were heavily armed.

"Our quarrel is with the girl, not with you, just get lost" one of the men spoke out licking his lips in anticipation on getting revenge for his brothers death. `Oh he so better not blow my cover or ill kill every last one of them before this red haired guy…..who has a cross like scar….oh….my…..-`

"Look out!" she didn't even have time to react as she was pushed roughly to the ground and the younger boy with black spiky hair was now crouched over her figure, the knife that had been thrown at her head was now in his hand and was already being twisted around and thrown back at the man who had catapulted it towards her head in the first place. The mark was found and the first of the mob went down hard.

All hell broke lose at that moment, the now nine men split up, four crashed hard against Kenshin while the other five went after Yahiko and the girl, both stood back to back, trying to fend off the larger and taller men who were swinging their blades with such precision that it seemed as if they were going to be chopped up into little bits.

Kenshin glared at the four men that were trying hard to hit him, `where did they learn to fight?' flipping over the back of one of the men Kenshin flick kicked the next man in the stomach and then swept his feet from under him before stabbing down with his sword `one down, three to go' hand springing further away from his opponents to give Yahiko some breathing room Kenshin released a throwing dagger and caught another opponent in the throat, taking him out of the picture `hmm two left.' Kenshin dodged the two men's blades for a while and then becoming increasingly bored stood between the two and at the last minute twisted away letting the two mob members to impale themselves on each others swords.

Wiping his hair from his eyes Kenshin turned to where Yahiko and the girl were still trying to get the men away from them, Kenshin watched their form, both were working well together, the girl watching for when Yahiko would leave an opening to make sure he didn't get hurt and the same with Yahiko for the girl `hmm, I believe I've found my deshi a training partner.' Rolling his shoulders Kenshin rejoined the fray, slicing through the backs of two men, leaving only one left.

The lone man glared at the girl

"This is not over Wakisha Setsuae, I will be back, and with more men!"

Setsuae snorted "no you wont, Kikisho, I'll make sure of that" and so saying the young woman took aim with her small dagger and threw it at the retreating man, catching him in the centre of his shoulder blades, all three watched as he stumbled before crashing to the ground, unmoving. "……No you wont" shaking it off Setsuae turned her attention to the two men that were looking at her strangely. "Nani?"

"Err, I don't mean to be rude but…..what was that about?" Setsuae looked the tall spiky haired boy over and then to the red haired Kenshin `now that I've found them, I better make up a little bit of a story, just to keep them happy'

"Old family feud. I killed his brother because he touched my sister in a….lets just say in a way he didn't have permission to. Happy?" both boys blushed lightly.

"Where is your sister?" Kenshin asked politely, both he and Yahiko noticed the hooded look that came over the young girl and she glared up at them

"She was killed"

"….Oh" Yahiko stated stupidly, Kenshin rolled his eyes and hit his deshi on the arm.

"So….do you have a place to stay?" Kenshin asked, trying to tactfully change the subject, Setsuae raised an eyebrow

"Doushite, you want to come over?" Kenshin's eyes widened and a blush fully tainted his cheeks while Yahiko tried to control his laughter.

"Iie, I…erm…..I was…..well…..ahhh" Yahiko shook his head at the stuttering ahou his teacher had become

"What he means to say is that if you don't have a place to stay then you are more then welcome to join us." Setsuae slowly smiled

"Honto?" she asked hopefully `oh boy, how much do I hate this damsel in distress thing?'

"Honto ne"

"Ok, where are we going?" Kenshin, having gotten over his little embarrassment cleared his throat

"Were going to Aizu, to a place where we can teach both you and Yahiko here to fight properly."

"I'm going to learn to fight?….finally" Kenshin chuckled and Yahiko shook his head in amusement before both boys pulled along their newest member to the small restaurant that they were headed to before their fight to celebrate.

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Shiraga Usagi-Otako

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The crowded spicy smelling restaurant was a welcomed thing when Setsuae realised that if she learnt to fight then she could get out of Aoshi's grasp and not have to keep up the farce that she lived.

"So what's good here?" Yahiko asked, he being a street rat had never actually been a paying customer in any shop

Kenshin grinned and started pointing out all the great food

"Sushi is raw fish? YUK! Ill have the err Kinpira, that sounds like something I would understand." Yahiko said, looking over at Kenshin who had ordered a bit of everything.

"Kinpira is just cooked veggies, nothing really special, I'll just have some sake thanks" both boys stopped what they were doing and stared at her.

"Nani?"

"Your drinking that, now, when you haven't eaten?" Setsuae shrugged

"So…your point being?"

"Oh nothing" Yahiko went back to staring at the food that was being served to everyone else to see if that was what he was having as well. Kenshin continued to stare at the new girl `there is something about her, I don't even know what, a sort of sadness? No, that cant be it….. I think I'm going crazy of hunger……will they hurry up?'

Their food arrived via a rather pretty and flirtatious young woman with long blue hair and large red eyes.

"Here you go sirs" at this she fluttered her eyelashes, there was a cough from the other side of the table and the waitress looked up and over at the female companion of the two handsome boys

"Are you alright? You look like your having an epileptic fit or something, oh, and do I get my drink soon or will I have to go and get it myself?" the girl humphed and glared at the honey haired girl who was smirking at her, Setsuae was laughing on the inside `oh that was almost too much, I miss doing that with my sisters……I hope they are alright…..Aoshi better keep his end of the deal or ill slit his throat.'

"What was that all about?" Yahiko asked, looking up from his vegetable, a slight frown marring his features.

"Oh nothing to worry your pretty little head about" Yahiko scoffed

"I'm not pretty…..I'm beautiful!" Setsuae snorted and rocked back on her knees, almost falling over from laughter, Kenshin likewise was trying hard to keep his laughter in check if the way his face was twitching was any indication.

"Here you go lady" all looked up at the waitress who handed Setsuae her drink, all completely ignored the poor girl and went back to laughing at Yahiko.

"To learning" Yahiko stated proudly, holding up his small cup of water

"To teaching" Kenshin joined in, also holding up his small cup of water

"To a new life" Setsuae smiled sadly holding up her sake, all clinked their cups and then drank from them `yup…..to a new life'

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Sujakata: had to stop it here, this was chocka full of fighting, well not really. Ok well this was kind of just to get things moving on. Next chapter will have things to do with the High Council Meiji, the Princess and her guard, the Kamiya dojo, Enishi, Shishio, Aoshi and Misao hmmm and well of course more Kenshin, Yahiko and Setsuae. I would really like to know what you people think. I know it's confusing, but it will get better, these chapters are to kind of spread things out and let you get a feel for the background of this fic. Hell it will be much more exciting. And romance will come in to it when the training starts. PROMISE

Translations

daijoubu des ka- is everything alright?

Itachi- weasel

Nani- what?

Doushite- why?

Shirage- white-haired

Sensei- teacher

Batousai- manslayer

Deshi- student

Baka deshi- silly/stupid student

sou des ka- isn't that so?

sou da ne- that's true

Honto- really

Honto ne- really truly

kawaisou ni- poor thing

ahuo- moron

akage- red-haired

Usagi- bunny, rabbit