Disclaimer: All of the characters from Fushigi Yuugi, and Rurouni Kenshin do not belong to me. They belong to whoever created and produced them. So, whatever you do, please don't sue me! I'm a poor high school student and don't have any money! Besides, I'm just writing this for the sake of fanfiction, not money.
*thoughts*
/what had happened in the past/
(time setting)
Ayame-chan says: Gomen nasai for taking sooo long with this chapter! See, I've been having TONS of ideas for different stories at one time and uh...well, I just kinda got REALLY busy! Try writing six stories at once and then you'll see what I'm talking about. And include school, projects, babysitting, and misc. take-outs on the weekends indicating that I have to go somewhere soon. Well, I hope this is pretty good...I've been having allergies for the past couple of days so I might be a bit...uh...negative I guess. Thank you all for those who reviewed! You've inspired me to write some more on this fic!
Chapter Four ~ Warning Signs
(1878, Musashi)
"Maa, istashiburi ne, Kenshin," Aiko greeted with a twinkle in her violet eyes, still carrying the toddler in her arms.
But the little boy tried to wiggle out of her grasp and eventually did, running to Ukiyou. " 'Neechan!!!"
She bent down and picked him up in her arms. "K-chan! You've gotten so big!!"
K-chan giggled in delight and then looked at Nuriko, waving. "Konnichiwa, Strong Purple Man!" (AN: I would've let him call Nuriko lady...but um...that wouldn't just fit, would it? Besides, K-chan's a smart kidlet)
Nuriko waved politely back. "Konnichiwa, K-chan."
K-chan turned to the others, first Sansosuke. "Konnichiwa, rooster head!"
Sano paused for a moment, thinking, and then decided to wave.
Next was Yahiko: "Konnichiwa, whoever you are!"
Yahiko had to restrain himself greatly.
Then there was Kaoru: "Konnichiwa Pretty Blue-eyed Lady!"
Kaoru giggled and waved back. She had to admit that K-chan was awfully cute.
Finally, Kenshin: "Konnichiwa, 'Kaachan's Red Friend!"
As usual, he replied in his own style. "Maa, konnichiwa, K-chan, de gozaru."
After all of the hellos, Ukiyou had to adjust K-chan a bit because her arms were getting tired. "This is my little brother, K-chan, as you already know. Actually, his real name's Kishuku, demo it's too long right now so we all call him K-chan."
Aiko laughed again, walking towards the group with the eldest following behind. "You were the one who named him, U-chan, not me."
"Oneechan, why did you want us to come here for?" Ukiyou asked as she handed K-chan over to his mother.
"Oh, lots of reasons. Masaki found something," Aiko replied. She then noticed K-chan rubbing his eyes and giving out a small yawn. She smiled. "U-chan, would you put K-chan to sleep? He was up all morning and didn't want to go to sleep."
"Okay!" Ukiyou gently traded with Aiko and began walking back to the house with K-chan.
"Anno..." Kaoru said.
Aiko smiled at her. "Hai, you can help too if you want, Kaoru-san."
Kaoru smiled back and quickly went with Ukiyou into the home.
The other children resumed their play with the eldest watching them and joining in like how a normal big brother does. Silence filled the four. Aiko tilted her head to the side, eyes questioning.
"Well, if there's something to ask, then why don't you ask?" she said to them.
"Anno...Aiko-san, you know, there's something that I've been meaning to ask you ever since we met..." Nuriko began.
A pause. Then three voices asked, "How old are you?"
Sanosuke, Nuriko, and Yahiko stared at each other in bewilderment for a second then looked back to Aiko who was a bit surprised. Kenshin decided to remain silent, looking down at his feet.
"Oh, you mean you don't know?" Aiko asked. "I'm the same age as Kenshin."
They nearly fell off balance. "NANI?!?"
Kenshin tried to stifle a laugh, but in vain. Aiko just smiled.
"You're the same age as Kenshin?" Sanosuke sputtered out. "B-but, you look...you look so..."
"Young!" Yahiko finished.
"Thank you very much," Aiko said. "But think of it this way: if Kenshin knew me during the Bakumatsu, then I'd have to be either the same age as he was or older, right?"
Nuriko scratched his head. "Hmm...you've got a point."
"Kuso, both you AND Kenshin got something in you that makes you look the same for ten years..." Sanosuke commented.
Kenshin and Aiko couldn't help but laugh, leaving the three stooges a bit clueless.
(in K-chan's room)
K-chan was quick to fall asleep in Ukiyou's arms. She gently laid him down in his bed as both her and Kaoru watched him.
"He's so kawaii, ne..." Kaoru observed.
"Aa," Ukiyou agreed. "Demo, he's a lot to handle when he's really awake."
*I really shouldn't ask this, but...* Kaoru thought. "Ne, Ukiyou?"
"Hai?"
"H-how...how does Kenshin know your sister?"
They walked out of the room together, silently sliding the door closed. Ukiyou thought for a moment. "....I really don't know. She never told me about him." Then she grinned. "Actually, oneechan never really told me much about her past at all. All I knew about her that she was married to Masaki and I was to be her little sister undercover."
Kaoru looked straight ahead, her ocean eyes a bit despondent. "Sou ka na..."
Ukiyou's grey eyes looked inquisitively at her. "Kaoru, doushta no?"
"I-ie...betsumi..."
Ukiyou cut Kaoru off and she stopped, looking at her straight in the eye. "Hmm...Kaoru are you worried about Kenshin-san?"
At this statement, Kaoru blushed a light pink, not used to be stared at so questionably. "W-well...sort of...."
Ukiyou couldn't help but giggle, leaving her eyes off Kaoru for a moment. "Daijoubu. Oneechan wasn't one of Kenshin-san's lovers. She's married, by the way. And both her and Masaki-san are still deeply in love. I think that she and Kenshin-san were probably like twins during the Bakumatsu."
Kaoru couldn't help but blink a few times. "Twins?"
"Oh, you know, like they knew each other so well that they were like brother and sister," Ukiyou finished. Then she shrugged. "That's what I think anyway. From my perspective that's what I think how both oneechan and Kenshin-san were like back then. There's nothing to worry about anyway."
Kaoru couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief. "That's good. I was just wondering."
"Now, wondering about a person's past isn't that bad," Ukiyou assured her. "You have to know a person better before you take him or her in as a friend, right?"
"Well, then, what about you and Sanosuke?" Kaoru asked.
"Me and him? No, we're just friends. Besides," Ukiyou answered, "it's just going to be too weird to be more than that because we know each other so well it scares us sometimes."
"Even after ten years of not seeing him?"
"Sano-chan is Sano-chan. He hasn't changed at all."
(back on the front porch...)
Nuriko and Sanosuke got into a heated discussion about the government. Well, it wasn't really ABOUT the government, it was mainly their OPINIONS about it. After a few minutes, Sanosuke decided that Nuriko was a really cool guy, just a tad bit too happy-go-lucky. And maybe too much of a girl sometimes....but he shook that thought aside as they continued their discussion.
The children were running around, playing tag. The eldest, whom Yahiko found out that his name's Shunsasku, and Yahiko got into a little argument which ended up in Yahiko losing. He just wasn't as fast as Shunsaku was, nor was he as experienced in the realm of fighting.
Kaoru and Ukiyou were having another one of those deep discussions. Kenshin could tell that they got along really well like sisters.
Kenshin and Aiko were sitting on the porch, just watching the scenery. After a few moments of silence, he let out a deep sigh.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it, de gozaru," he said.
Aiko smiled, shaking her head. "You haven't changed much since then. It was hard to find you. How come you never visited us?"
"I never had the time..." then Kenshin laughed, remembering back to one of the rare, good times of the Bakumatsu. "You nearly freaked me out when I saw you the last time, Aiko, de gozaru na."
"Well, that was because you have never seen me with a large stomach before," Aiko smiled.
"Shunsaku, isn't it?" he asked, eyeing the boy as he fought with Yahiko.
"Hai."
"He's pretty good with the arts, de gozaru ka..."
She giggled. "He takes after me. I don't want any of my children's hands stained with blood. Including Ukiyou's as well."
"During the last days of the Bakumatsu was when you found her, de gozaru?"
"Uh-huh. Poor child being so tramatized of seeing the head of her brother. She reminds me of myself, sometimes, because I faced that situation long ago."
"You never told me about how you entered the Riskbreakers, Aiko, de gozaru," Kenshin pointed out.
She sighed, looking out into the evening sky. "I might, someday. Even after sixteen years, I still can't forget him. He was my only family."
"Sou ka..." Kenshin stopped and changed the subject. "Where's Masaki-san? I haven't seen him."
"Oh, Masaki? He's out on a mission..."
/(1866, late Genji 2nd)
"Nani? Another partner?" the young Kenshin asked.
"Hai. Kanazaki can't return," Katsura said. "And he's willing to take her place."
"Naze?"
"For personal reasons was what her letter told me," Katsura explained. "Your new partner will be Sasaki Masaki (AN: Hey, that rhymes!). He'll arrive tomorrow at dawn. Be prepared to greet him."
"Sasaki Masaki?" Kenshin repeated the name. "You don't mean---"
"Hai," Katsura answered once again. "The Riskbreaker's top hitokiri. His skills are about equal to yours, possibly even higher."
Kenshin's empty eyes narrowed. "How so?"
"I'm not really sure, I haven't been able to meet him," Katsura said. "But Kanazaki trusts him."
(1867, mid Genji 3rd)
A young, raven haired man with copper eyes overlooked the fort below with Kenshin. He turned to his comrade.
"Oi, Himura, are you sure that we can do this?" he asked.
"Maybe, maybe not, Masaki," Kenshin answered. "Shikashi, we need to get that formula back. If it gets in the hands of the Shinsengumi, then Isshin is done for."
Masaki snorted out a reply. "Hmph, so that's it? Just get it back?"
"Well, you were the one who found a way to get in the fortress and you're doubting yourself?" Kenshin asked, a tad bit annoyed.
"Okay, okay, you're right. Why don't we just finish this so I can get back home?"
Kenshin couldn't help but smirk. "Why, worried about your wife, Masaki?"
"You got it."
They infiltrated the fortress with ease. A line of men pending for their passes to Heaven and Hell later, they both chased after one particular man and his elite group of mercenaries towards the end of the complex that they were in. However, these men not only had their swords, but guns as well.
Kenshin and Masaki ducked down once again under the rain of bullets coming at them. Masaki breathed a sigh of frustration as he leaned against the steel box. "Kuso, we can't even get near them, that bastard!"
Kenshin looked at him for an answer. "So what should we do?"
"Sasaki-san!" a cruel voice called out to him. "Doushta? Can't get through my force's line of bullets?"
Masaki and Kenshin both remained silent behind the box.
"Well then, I've got somebody to show you!" the voice chided. "You see, we had a little SPY in our facility..."
This time, Masaki looked over his shoulder and the side of the box as Aiko was pushed out of the side hallway. He gritted his teeth in anger. Kenshin looked out on the other side of the box and saw her, a bit surprised. She looked the same except, well, she had gained some weight and wearing her kimono instead.
*No, that's just her stomach,* he thought, then the realization came to him. *Chotto, Aiko has gained a LOT of weight?!? What's going on?*
"And we had to CATCH this little spy," the belong of the voice continued, a creepy looking thin man.
Aiko was shoved a bit further to the front of the man. Masaki turned back and looked up at the ceiling, snarling, "Kisama, why the hell do you have her here for? She isn't involved in this, Tojo!"
Kenshin kept his eyes on the large group and then noticed a syringe-like gun about a few feet away from Masaki's side.
Tojo set the tip of his gun on Aiko's back, who continued to remain silent. Only her eyes talked. "Oh, your wife is DEFINETLY involved in this matter, Sasaki!"
*Nani? Aiko is Masaki's wife?!?* Kenshin thought in surprise.
Masaki turned back to look over his shoulder again, his copper eyes blazing in fury as Tojo shoved a plump Aiko further with his gun. There was a loud click that echoed throughout the facility. "Now, either she gets the gun near you or you'll witness the deaths of both your wife and unborn child."
"Aiko's pregnant?!?" Kenshin whispered fiercely to Masaki. He didn't pay any attention to him.
Aiko began taking a few steps forward, and then began walking slowly to the gun. Masaki and Kenshin eyed her every movement, even when she walked right next to where they were at. She bent down awkwardly to pick up the gun, locking eye contact with Masaki that seemed to say Let me handle this.
Her husband blinked a few times in confusion as she stood up, and flipped the gun skillfully around to face Tojo and his men.
"I don't think so," she said, the first words that came out of her mouth. "If you're going to hurt me or my child, then you're going to have to die."/
AUTHOR'S NOTES: No, I'm NOT done with the flashback. It's just a really long flashback that will explain everything from who the hell Masaki is and how Shunsaku came to be. Kinda side-tracking, but this will just be explaination in case you get confused. If you are, e-mail me!