Fly Away

Chapter 14: I WILL be taller!

Toshi hadn't liked the icy silence that sat uneasily between Rin and Souji that morning. He'd heard shouting and thudding last night, but hadn't thought much of it, it wouldn't be the first time they'd come to blows over trivial matters. Although this time it seemed to him, it must have been serious. Souji's left cheekbone sported an impressive bruise and Rin's gait had been stiff.

Shaking himself from thought, Toshi brought his focus back to his work. The manuscript was giving him a headache, he really should get Sannan to look over them as well. Tilting his head back, the vice-commander looked out the door and there standing in the doorway was a short, purple hair man, Saito Hajime.

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Rin trekked through the bustling streets of Kyoto, arms full of food, food and more food. It was astounding how much food the nine of them could consume. Gen-san had ordered her to go refill the cupboards, but she had a sneaking suspicion that it was mostly because there was a dark cloud of evil nastiness between her and Souji. It seemed to her that everyone could sense it, even poor, oblivious Heisuke.

She was turning a corner when she stopped dead in her tracks and a shiver ran down her spine. SHe could feel eyes fixed on her back, gold eyes. She just knew they were gold, there was no other option. She spun around, almost dropping her precious load, she fixed the spot. A flicker of white hair shone in the sun then was gone. Shivering again, Rin scrambled back to HQ, senses on high alert. Nothing happened. The gold eyes were gone.

The clamor of a fight rang out from the yard, concern flooded Rin's mind. There wasn't any training planned form this morning. Stepping faster, she sped up, ready to drop everything and join the fray. Almost running, she swung into the yard, scanned the place, no brawl, no enemies, just Souji and ... was that Saito? Yes, YES it was! Carefully dumping her cargo on the ground, she shouted:

"HEY SAITO! KICK HIS ASS!" The opponents exchange a series of rapid blows, then Saito lifts his sword for a heavy overhead strike. Souji does the same, but to block instead. In a quick, elegant movement, Saito ducks, shifts his sword and goes for the ribs ... the same place she smashed last night. Ouch. A malicious grin spread across Rin's face. The satisfaction of seeing Souji flinch was just divine.

"Did you change your style? It seems different."

"I don't believe so." Souji furrowed his brow, not quite convinced. At that moment, Rin grabbed Saito in a bone-crushing bear hug. The man stood there, stiff as a board.

"Good to see you too, Rin. I didn't think you were in Kyoto."

"I thought you were hunting rainbows and demons!"

Silence.

Souji was about to fall over laughing, went he remembered that he was effectively banned from reacting to anything Rin said with anything, but a scowl.

Rin's eyes flicked over to him then back to Saito. She then proceeded to aggressively poke Saito's cheek.

"You're still taller than me."

"Rin. You're done growing. You won't ever be taller than me."

"A girl can hope."

"Hope won't make you taller." Rin plugged her ears and:

"I'M NOT LISTENING! LALALALALALALALA!!!!LA LALA LA LALA LA LA LA AAAAAA! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

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"With you, we're a hundred men stronger!" Kondo-san's warm voice rang in the dining room everyone was smiling. Sannan turned to Kondo-san saying:

"With Saito here, everyone from our Edo days is here, even our little wanderer." Everyone knew he meant Rin, the girl had never stayed more than a few weeks at a time, after she turned fourteen. Turning his attention to Shinpachi and Heisuke, Kondo-san said:

"Nakagura, how was the city?"

"Not good. We ran into unlawful bastards at every corner and the civilians were not very friendly. I wouldn't recommend going out alone." Souji gave Rin a «I told you so.» look. She looked back at him with too much murder in her eyes.

"I see. It's even worse than I'd imagined." A bit of the light in Kondo-san's eyes went out. Toshi decided that that was unacceptable."Bring it on. Since the locals and the clans aren't up to the task means we've got a chance to prove ourselves. Everyone came prepared for danger. You aren't going to scurrie home to Edo are you?"

"I wouldn't have followed you all the way to Kyoto if I were."

"We made our decision ages ago.

"Like hell we're leaving!" Kondo-san's face lit up again:

"Well, the next few months will prove difficult, but I hope you will bare with us." Souji looked up and said:

"Don't even get started!"

"Yeah, even just having miso and pickles is a luxury!"

"Yeah, remember Rin's soups? What did you put in there anyway?"

"You don't want to know."

A/N: So, we have a problem. I've got two writing styles. Very dark and emotional ... and crackpot crazy. I'm trying to find a happy balance between the two for this story because that seems to be where it should be. Plz bear with me while I figure this out this cluster fuck (I really like the words cluster fuck).