To Forgive and Forget: Ukiyou's Secret

Disclaimer: I think you should know the routine by now ^_^.

*thoughts*

/what had happened in the past/

(time setting)

Ayame-chan says: I. AM. BACK!!!!!! ::goes into more Tomo laughter:: Istashiburi, minna-san! ::bonks on the heads of her muses:: Say hi to the readers!

( Na, no da. )

[ #*)$(*@()&%()$*#&%*&@(#*&..... ]

::waves paw:: / Mreow! \

And let me introduce to you: my new muse, TrowaPlushie!

** ..... **

::big sweatdrop:: Anno....he's a bit shy right now. Anyhoo, on with the show!

Chapter Eight ~ Ukiyou's Secret

"Aiko, what are you doing here?!?" the woman named Tokio asked, walking towards Aiko and Kenshin.

"I'm just visiting for a while," Aiko replied. "I was just about to visit you, too. Oh, this is Himura Kenshin," she gestured to a dumbfounded and rather confused Kenshin behind her, "a friend of mine. Kenshin, this is my cousin, Tokio."

"Konnichiwa, Himura-san," Tokio bowed politely. "Fujita Tokio, desu."

"Ah...konnichiwa, Tokio-dono," Kenshin greeted back. *Fujita? Why does that name sound familiar?* "Aiko's been telling me about you, de gozaru."

"And she's been telling me much about you, too," Tokio said. Then to Aiko, "How long are you staying here?"

"For a while, I suppose," Aiko replied. "A lot has been going on these past few days."

The two women continued to talk, making Kenshin feel a bit out of place and leaving him wondering about the woman named Fujita Tokio. *Fujita? I know I've heard that name from somewhere...*

"Gomen ne, Ukiyou," Kaoru apologized. "I hope I'm not forcing you to cook for us."

Ukiyou paused her scaling off the fish. "Ie, daijoubu, Kaoru. I'm pretty much used to this and I like cooking, actually."

"Oi, U-chan!" Sanosuke's voice shouted. "Are you done yet?!?"

He barely dodged a knife that was thrown at her. A couple of stray strands of hair were stuck on the knife. Sanosuke brushed his hair back, standing back up. He stared at the knife for a bit before pulling it out of the wood. *Damn, she's good...*

"Oi, U-chan, you missed!" he teased.

He barely dodged yet another knife that slightly nicked his left ear. He stared at the knew knife again in amazement. *She's really good*

"If you weren't so damn fast, then you would've been dead by now, Sano!" Ukiyou's voice ringed out.

Sanosuke grinned and chuckled lightly. Nuriko walked by next to him, pulling out the knife and examining it.

"Mou, U-chan you're supposed to feed your audience, not kill them!" he teased, flipping the knife around in his hand.

"Don't you start, Nuriko!"

He and Sanosuke shared a grin before they heard Ukiyou shout, "Tasuki!! Can you burn the wood for us???"

"What am I, your @#(%*#$ slaves?" Tasuki yelled back from outside.

"Hai!!!" both Kaoru and Ukiyou's voices answered as cutely as possible.

Grumbling and muttering some incoherent words, Sanosuke and Nuriko saw a glimpse of Tasuki walking inside.

"Women...they ain't fair," Tasuki muttered.

"Oi, where's Chichiri?" Sanosuke asked Nuriko.

"Out talking to Masaki," he answered. "Care to join us?"

"Huh..." Sanosuke snorted as the two walked out to the back. "Ya know, this was kinda buggin' me, but why is he smiling all the time? It's kinda reminding me of this guy I remember."

"Oh, that?" Nuriko asked. "It's a mask."

"A mask?"

"Aa. His real face is underneath that, but he'll only take it off when he wills it to."

"Then why does he wear a mask?"

"Chichiri's real face...well, from what U-chan told me, he wears it so that nobody would be frightened by the look of his scar over his left eye."

"Oh...sou ka...so, it's kinda like Kenshin's scar?"

"...Sorta."

They arrived to the area where Chichiri and Masaki rested. Shunsaku and Yahiko were battling it out, shinai against shinai. So far, even with all of Yahiko's training under the Kamiya Kasshin and his experience against the Juppon Gatana, Shunsaku was at the advantage. The rest of the children, with the exception of the second oldest by the name of Asuka, were gathered around their father and Chichiri. Mainly around Chichiri because of his unusual clothing and weapon.

"Chichiri-niichan! How do you disappear into your kasa?" one of the twins asked, putting on the kasa.

"Da..." Chichiri tried to explain.

"Da!" Kishuku shouted, waddling around.

"Da! Da! Da!" the other children repeated.

"Oi, oi, oi, oi!" Masaki chased after his son before he was able to venture any further. He hoisted Kishuku upon his shoulders and walked back. "You're not going that far."

"Da!" Kishuku repeated, waving his arms in the air.

"Ahh!!" Yahiko fell to the ground again, face first. The twins clapped, possibly due to the fabulous landing.

"Oh, Yahiko, you're getting your ass kicked!" Sanosuke shouted. "Even with all that fighting, you still lose!"

"Shaddup, Sano!" Yahiko retorted.

"Make me, Yahiko-CHAN!"

"Don't call me 'chan'!"

"Whatever you say, Yahiko-chan."

"Stop calling me that, rooster head!"

"Chan!"

"Rooster!"

"Chan!"

"Rooster!"

"Chan!"

"Rooster!"

"Cha--"

"Tadaima," Kenshin announced.

Him and Aiko returned with a bag of supplies and an unfamiliar guest behind them.

"Oh, Tokio," Masaki greeted the unfamiliar woman.

"Konnichiwa," Tokio greeted back politely. "I ran into your wife at the market, and these two invited me. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Oh no, no interruption at all...I think." He gave his wife a Look.

"Konnichiwa, Tokio-neesan," Shunsaku greeted.

Asuka ran next to her brother and smiled. "Konnichiwa, Tokio-neechan."

The other children ran to Tokio. "Tokio-neechan! Tokio-neechan!"

"Aa, konnichiwa!" Tokio greeted back, embracing the children.

"Minna, food's done!" Kaoru yelled out as she walked onto the porch. "Are??" Her head was surrounded by question marks.

"Oh, Kaoru-dono, this is Tokio-dono, Aiko's cousin," Kenshin introduced. "We bumped into her at the market and asked if she would like to stay for dinner, de gozaru. I hope you don't mind."

"Fujita Tokio, desu," Tokio greeted everybody else.

*Fujita?* Sanosuke thought. *Why does that name ring a bell?*

"Ah, Fujita-san, you're welcome to stay," Kaoru said. She gave a Look to Kenshin that made him feel a bit uneasy.

"Ah, Tokio, istashiburi!" Ukiyou greeted as she came out.

"Hai, it has, Ukiyou," Tokio said. "You've grown."

There was something familiar in the air. Like burning...

"Oi, U-chan, what's burning?" Nuriko asked.

Her eyes widened as she dashed back into the kitchen. "OH NO!!!!!"

Saitoh sat outside the home, quietly smoking a cigarette. Nobody was home, which was odd. Usually his wife would be home at a time like this...

She loved the stars. They always mystified her; how they would twinkle in the night and create patterns in the sky. She never really knew the meaning of stars until later on when she met the one man she would lose in her arms.

"Oi, U-chan," a voice called out ot her.

Ukiyou turned around to find Sanosuke behind her. Nothing had changed about him. He was taller, but in her eyes, Sanosuke was still the Sanosuke she knew when they were kids. *It's me who changed* she thought.

"Nani yo, Sano?" she asked.

"Che, still looking at stars?" he asked back, a teasing smile on his face as he walked towards her. "I thought that was one thing that you would stop doing."

"Sano...."

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Geez, you take things so seriously."

He sat down next to her, looking up at the stars as well. A long silence followed.

"Why do you like them so much?" Sanosuke asked to break the silence.

"Like what?" Ukiyou asked.

"Stars. I've been noticing that you've been looking at then a lot."

"...." She hestitated for a moment. *Should I tell him or not?...No, not right now.* "It's a long story...I really don't like talking about it."

"Talk about it when you want to. I ain't forcing you or anything," Sanouske said after noticing the despondent look in her eyes. *If she ain't gonna talk about it...* Then he stood up, pounding his fists together. "Yosh, let's go!"

Ukiyou stared at him in utter confusion. "Go? Go where?"

He took her arm and grinned. "Ya haven't seen Katsu in a while, right? Why don't all three of us catch up on old times?"

Ukiyou smiled and nodded, accepting the hand. "Sure, why not."

"You're husband's a police officer?" Kaoru asked.

Tokio nodded. "Hai. Usually he's out on missions, so I rarely ever get to see him at home."

"Sou de gozaru ka," Kenshin mused. *Fujita, Fujita, Fujita...where have I heard of that name?*

"That must really suck," Yahiko said. "Being at home all the time and alone when your husband's gone and doing who knows what."

"Ie, I'm pretty much used to it," Tokio chuckled to herself. "Actually, I help him out with information that he needs, so I'm rarely home myself."

"WAAAAHHHH!!!!"

Asuka came running in, dark brown locks curling around her face in various angles as she gasped for air. "Kaa-chan, Ruri-chan tripped while she was running 'n' I think she twisted something."

Aiko stood up, sighing. "Wakatta, wakatta. Where's otouchan?"

"Tou-chan's with her right now."

"Maa, this is what happens when you have too many children," she said to Kenshin and Kaoru, winking.

"Oro?"

Kaoru blushed a faint pink. Aiko smiled and followed Asuka. Tokio stood up, setting her cup of tea down.

"Maa, I might as well be going, too. My husband's probably wondering where I am."

Kaoru and Kenshin stood up as well. "We'll lead you out, Fujita-san."

"Do you want anybody to come with you, Tokio-dono, de gozaru?"

"Ie, I'll be fine."

Aiko came back in, carrying one of the twins in her arms. "Maa, Tokio, we'll come with you since we're going to stay with you anyway. Besides, I think Ruri-chan'll like that, ne?"

Ruri wiped away some of her tears and sniffed, smiling.

"Maa, Kenshin, Kaoru-san. If you guys ever want to visit we're closeby," Aiko said as she and Masaki set off with the children.

"Hai, and you're welcome here, too," Kaoru said.

"Ja iku ne."

With that, the Sasaki family left with Tokio.

"Maa, I wonder where U-chan went," Kaoru wondered.

"I think she's with the rooster head," Nuriko replied, appearing out of nowehere. "I saw them leave, probably catching up on old times."

"Well, that's understandable, de gozaru," Kenshin said.

Ukiyou and Sanosuke stumbled through the street as they headed towards Sanosuke's place. Well, actually, Sanosuke was leading the way since Ukiyou had no clue where he stayed. The two were pretty much drunk, but not by much since they were still able to walk straight.

"Che, U-chan, you can sure handle a lot," Sanosuke commented on Ukiyou's sake tolerance. "Better than Jou-chan and the Fox lady combined." He slung her arm over his shoulder so she would lean against him as a support.

"Hah, that's what you get for living in China for so long and being around Nuriko and Tasuki so much," Ukiyou said, flipping a piece of hair back. "Mou, I swear, you and Katsu still keep on calling each other bakayeros. BOTH of your are bakayeros already."

Sanosuke laughed out loud as they turned a corner. "I guess so, 'specially for what we did."

"And you'd think I'D be trying to get revenge?" Ukiyou continued on. "Sure, I thought about it when I was little, but 'neechan taught me differently."

They entered in Sanosuke's..."home" and slid the door closed behind them. That was when Sanosuke turned his head and saw something like a scar on Ukiyou's wrist. He held her arm while slipping it off his shoulder.

"Hmm? Nani yo, Sano?" Ukiyou asked, confused in the dim moonlight that shone through the screen.

No, it wasn't because he was drunk and seeing things. Taking closer inspection, it was definetly a scar.

"How did you get this?" he asked slowly.

Realizing what Sanosuke was looking at, Ukiyou tried to pull away. "Anno...I got cut a long time ago."

"Nobody would be able to cut them like that except you!" Sanouske pulled her closer, fully revealing the scar that had began on her wrist and slashed downward to the joint where her forearm and upper arm joined. It deep from Sanosuke's point of view. "And why would a scar like this still be here if it was a while ago? It's like Kenshin's scar on his cheek that won't fade!"

He was close to shouting, but Ukiyou paid no mind to it as she herself got angry. "It's none of your business!"

"It is my business because you're my friend!" Sanosuke retorted. "U-chan, why the hell would you want to kill yourself for?!?"

"And why would you want to know?!?"

"What the hell happened in China?!?"

"You wouldn't even understand even if I told you!"

"I will dam understand especially if it's from you!"

"How the hell would you know?" Ukiyou's eyes filled with tears of both anger and anguish. "How would you know how it feels when your best friend betrays you because of a stupid crush?!? How would you know how it feels to have the very person closest to you die in your arms?!? How would you know how it feels to see your friends die because of you!?!?!?"

The tears were close to falling as she stared at a bewildered Sanosuke straight in the eye. *Don't cry, don't cry now, U-chan* she thought fiercely.

But the tears did slip and all she could do was look away from him. "You don't know how it feels to see a child sacrafice his life because he just wants to protect you...."

All of her training, all of her walls that she built the past years broke down right in front of him. "You don't even know..."

Ukiyou cried and could do nothing else but cry as Sanosuke held her close. She buried her head in his shoulder, the tears staining his jacket. Her slim shoulders shook with every sob.

"U-chan...I...I...." Sanouske murmured, desparately trying to find a way to comfort her. *I didn't mean to...*

He remembered the Sekihoutai. Ukiyou was a spunky little girl waiting for any action, but she was as fragile as a delicate statue when it came to her feelings. Whenever she was down, he and Katsu would come and comfort her, to make her feel better. She would laugh at their jokes and equal stupidity while crying at the same time until her stomach would hurt. Although the three of them were close, being the youngest members of the group, she and Sanosuke were closer than Katsu. He would hug her close so that she would cry on his shoulder while he buried his head in her hair, whispering comforting words.

He remembered that he promised himself to protect U-chan at all costs. There was one time when a close friend of theirs died and Ukiyou cried nonstop. The other Sekihoutai memebers, including Katsu and her brother Sagara-taichou, left her alone because she was a girl and girls were emotional that way. But young Sanosuke, remembering his promise, went over to a crying Ukiyou under a sakura tree. Instead of the usual hug, he kissed her lightly on the cheek, telling her that he'd protect her no matter what happened. She had smiled, wiping her tears away, and giggled.

"Sano-chan, you're too silly! Silly but sweet!"

"Ne, U-chan, I didn't mean to force it out of ya..." Sanosuke apologized.

She looked up, wiping tears away as they were again replenished by new ones. "Ie, it's not your fault, Sano. I guess I should've told you sooner, demo...it still hurts."

"Che, I hate seeing you cry though," he said and smiled faintly, wiping away a tear that slid down her cheek. "I have to remind myself that you're a woman when you're like this."

She frowned. "Mou...."

They stared at one another for a moment, Sanosuke still rubbing her cheek. They were so close, their noses barely touching. Sanosuke leaned forward and...

....their lips touched. Ukiyou's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but accepted. They were just childhood friends, right? Just friends, right?

*No,* Ukiyou realized. *We're more than just that.*

AYAME-CHAN SAYS: Okay, I'm going off the main plot, aren't it? Well...uh...this side-tracking will apply to the main plot...somehow O_o. Soon, anyhoo. I just wanted to get off the whole crossover thing for a moment, but I promise I'll get back on track! Being sick and writing don't mix ^_^. R&R as usual, anyway! It helps me get back on track when people are yelling at me ^_\\

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