Disclaimer: I don't own or claim Rurouni Kenshin or Ranma1/2. I don't make any money from this or have intentions of copyright infringements, so please don't sue me.

Bushido

"I have."

Saitoh waited for a full minute before he continued. "Aren't you going to try to kill me?"

"Perhaps," the voice mocked.

Saitoh leaned back once more. Although he appeared relaxed, it was deceiving. He waited for a moment for the voice to elaborate. It didn't. "Why did you come then?"

"A warning," the voice replied.

"Oh?"

"I want you to see for yourself. After all, it involves you, too."

"So that you can try to kill me when my back is turned?" Saitoh casually blew out a cloud of smoke.

"Still arrogant, I see. But sadly, my fight is not with you."

"Hmph."

"I think I'll go for now. I'm sure that I don't need to tell you where to go," the voice said, slowly fading back into the darkness.

"No, anything interesting seems to always involve a famous red haired hitokiri," Saitoh said. Soon, he felt the presence disappear as suddenly as it had come. He closed his eyes, still attuned to everything around him, fancying that he could hear the fading sound of someone laughing. He smiled a secret smile before pushing the glowing cigar down on his desk. "This is going to be entertaining."

***********************

Tokyo 

"Ranma! You baka!"

"Bleeh! Kawaiikune, kawaiikune!"

Footsteps echoed throughout the Kamiya dojo as Akane chased Ranma, trying to hit him with Kaoru's bokken.

"So energetic," Kasumi said, cheerfully placing a bowl of rice in front of Kenshin.

"Oro?"

"Are they always like this back home?" Kaoru asked skeptically.

"Worse," Nabiki muttered.

"How can they be worse?" Yahiko watched as first Ranma then Akane ran past his vision. "They've already put a hole through the dojo three times, ruined one of trees in the yard, and tore down the front gates. How much more can they do?"

Nabiki gave him a dry look. "Try-- putting a hole through the dojo roof, kill the koi fish, ruin the bathing rooms, tear down six walls, make a hole through the floor, get the female half of Tokyo after you, receive two challenges, have three impromptu fights to the death, get a kidnapping, and have your tax and insurance rates go sky high."

Kenshin, Kaoru, Yahiko and Sano gave Nabiki a glazed stare.

All at once, they shook their heads and waved her off. "Nah!!!"

Nabiki smiled a secret smile that made the others cringe. "We'll see."

"But, how does your family cope with that, especially in just the two years that Ranma and his father had moved in?" Kaoru asked, thinking back on that first night when the Tendos and Saotomes tried to explain their life back in the future.

Kasumi smiled at Kaoru as she handed the younger girl a bowl of rice. "Oh, that happened every day."

"ORO!?"

"Kuso! And they call me violent," Sano muttered.

"Wow, that's almost as bad as you, Kenshin," Yahiko said looking up at Kenshin with an innocent but teasing look.

Kenshin smiled nervously, "Not quite, I hope."

Kaoru flinched when she heard the third crashing sound of that evening followed by a very loud yell from Akane. Kaoru looked at Nabiki.

Nabiki caught her stare and gave her a reassuring nod. "Don't worry, Kaoru san, it's all been taken care of."

Kaoru let out a relieved sigh.

Kenshin and Sano looked back and forth between Kaoru and Nabiki. When it was obvious that the girls weren't going to say anything more on the subject, they shrugged and continued to eat their dinner. "So what did Ranma do this time?"

Later that evening, Ranma was again on top of the roof of the Kamiya Dojo, lying on his back and gazing up at the stars.

"Whatcha doing?" a voice from behind Ranma asked.

Ranma sat up and turned around to smile at the young boy that struggled to climb over the edge of the roof. As soon as he made it and regained his balance, Myojin Yahiko looked expectantly at Ranma.

"Looking at the stars," Ranma answered, lying back down. He heard Yahiko walk carefully across the rooftop and sit beside him. Yahiko was very curious about the strange martial artist that had appeared one day. All he had ever done so far was eat, sleep, argue with Akane and train.

At first, he resented Ranma's presence disrupting their lives like that and making more work for the Kenshin gumi, but for some reason, Yahiko couldn't bring himself to hate Ranma or the others. Although, on the other hand, he was still kinda suspicious of them. Living with the mob all those years ago taught him a lot about deceiving intentions.

Seeing that Kenshin, Kaoru and even Sano, had accepted these people readily, Yahiko felt that it was his job to make sure the strangers weren't doing anything that might harm the others. Although he doesn't show it, Yahiko truly cared for Sano, Kaoru and Kenshin, and thought of them as his family.

Yahiko had waited until Kenshin, his temporary roommate, fell asleep, at which he got up and walked outside to the storage building where he knew Sano and Ranma slept. He had thought that it was time to take matters into his own hands and find out for himself what the real Ranma Saotome was like. It was disappointing to see that Ranma had not been in his futon, and Yahiko had immediately thought that Ranma was out causing trouble for the Kenshin gumi.

The boy was about to run back to the house, planning to wake Kenshin up and tell him that Ranma was up to no good, when he was stopped by Sano's voice telling him quietly that Ranma was up on the roof of the dojo. Yahiko was a bit surprised and a little contrite upon hearing this, but he made up his mind to talk to Ranma. Without asking how Sano knew that Ranma was on the roof, Yahiko turned around and left the storage room.

And so, with a lot of effort and determination, Yahiko made his way to the dojo and found a way to climb to the roof. There he saw Ranma's figure lying comfortably on his back. Yahiko asked a question, unthinkingly, and got an innocent response. He made his way to the martial artist and began his interrogation.

"Do you do this all the time back where you come from?" Yahiko asked.

Ranma continued to look at the stars, "Not often, I usually do this when I need to think about something."

"What are you thinking about now?" Yahiko felt that he needed to find answers, so he damped down the feeling that he was butting into somebody else's business. He was surprised that Ranma answered him.

"I'm thinking on how I can see the stars so clearly in this time and place," Ranma said simply. "It's different here, ya know. More cleaner and more natural sort of."

"I guess," Yahiko sulked. He was not getting anywhere.

"You're here to ask me something, aren't ya?"

Yahiko's head snapped up, and saw Ranma watching him. He was left speechless for a moment.

"I've had enough experience with Nabiki to know when someone wants something from me and tries to disguise it. So, let's get it right out. What do you want to know and what will happen if I tell?"

Yahiko sputtered a while before sighing and getting right down to business. "Are you really from the future?"

"Yeah. I come from Nerima, a district in Tokyo. I lived on the road for about thirteen years of my life, studying martial arts with Pop. For the last two years, I lived at the Tendo Dojo with Mr. Tendo and his three daughters."

"Why'd you come here then, of all the other places that you could have gone? Is it because of Kenshin and his past?"

"No, we ended up here because the old freak made a dumb wish. I didn't know nothing about Kenshin back then. Akane and Nabiki might have, since they're better at history than I am, but so far they haven't mentioned anything to me, so I don't know if they know anything."

"History?"

"You know, studying the past."

"Yeah, I know. I'm guessing that you do pretty much in your time what you do here."

Ranma narrowed his eyes, "What's that suppose to mean?"

Yahiko smirked. In the next second, he remembered why he was there and his demeanor suddenly turned serious. "So you don't study much of history. Other than you being crazy, that might explain why you're not trying to go after the Tendos, and vice versa."

"Me go after that tomboy Akane?" Ranma asked vehemently, but he relaxed and grinned a little. "Maybe, I may be a little crazy." Then his expression turned sour again. "I have enough people coming after me, I don't need the Tendos to do that, too."

Yahiko heard the last sentence and immediately hit on it. "Who's after you?!"

Ranma shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "Shampoo, Kodachi, Kuno, Mousse, Ryoga, principal Kuno, Hinako sen--"

"Are they dangerous?"

Ranma paused at the interruption and frowned at the question. "I guess so. They're all pretty good martial artists in their own way. But I could still beat all of them on any given day."

"You think you're that good?"

"Yeah. I'm better than all of them put together."

"I bet you can't beat Kenshin," Yahiko argued, feeling the need to defend his hero.

"Dunno. Never went up against him yet." Ranma stopped and thought a moment. "I don't think that he'll fight me willingly, even for pretend."

"Yeah, he might not. He only fights against people who want to hurt other people. It's his philosophy."

"I know. I've kinda deduced that."

"How?" Yahiko asked curiously.

Ranma turned his gaze to the boy and studied him. "I'm not sure if you trained long enough to know. There's something in the way a real dedicated martial artist moves. It's also something in the air around them. The suppressed energy, like a snake waiting to attack if given a reason."

Yahiko sort of understood. He's seen Kenshin sometimes stop in the middle of what's he's doing, still as a snake in the sun, waiting for something to happen. He wouldn't act differently but his wariness can sometimes be detected. Yahiko was impressed that Ranma was able to recognize Kenshin as a martial artist.

"You must be good yourself to know that. Kenshin's a real hitokiri." Yahiko lowered his eyes, avoiding mentioning the fact that Kenshin was also a real bathousai.

Ranma was not aware of Yahiko's thoughts as he wondered about Kenshin's real abilities. Not only did he deduced Kenshin's real level of skill but also the gleam that comes to his eyes sometimes when he thinks that no one is looking. It’s a small detail, hard to see, but still there if one knows what to look for.

Ranma was interrupted by Yahiko's voice. "You wouldn't be trying to challenge him or nothing, right?"

"I told you before; he'll probably not even wanna fight at all."

"Sometimes people come to challenge him and take away the title of strongest. He's tired of that."

Ranma smirked. "Don't worry, Yahiko, I've been in that position a number of times and I find it quite annoying. Hey, I promise that I won't challenge Kenshin."

Yahiko still looked worried. He knew that he could believe in Ranma's promise, but he wanted to know if Ranma can promise that when the others (specifically members of the Tendo and Saotome clans) do come, that he won't drag Kenshin in it. The Kenshin gumi and most of all, Kenshin himself, has had enough bloodshed.

But then, Ranma hasn't given him proof that he really wasn't a Saotome. He hoped that was the case. For now, they could only wait until there was real proof, but by then, it may be too late.

Sano had lain awake after Yahiko had left to go after Ranma. He knew what the boy was up to and didn't begrudge him the opportunity to set things straight. He understood because he himself wanted to know if Ranma Saotome was really an innocent.

At first, Sano's opinion about the group was that they were all lunatics that had escaped from an asylum. He didn't think of how they ended up on someone's roof, though, but what mattered was that they ended up on the Kamiya roof. Having known Kenshin for a while now has made Sano more observant in regards to potential enemies. With Kenshin around, the Kenshin gumi had had to be more careful about unexpected enemies popping from out of nowhere.

Were they enemies or were they escaped loonies?

The morning after the gang dropped from the roof had answered that question. Sano had felt a chill go throughout his body when he saw the 'training session' that day. He had been unable to believe the speed, the skill, and the techniques that were evident throughout the practice. It was a speed that was god speed, or even faster, considering that the leaves of the tree that the two were jumping out of barely ruffled whenever the martial artist made a move towards each other. The skill was shown through the confidence and the control behind each punch and kick, and the accuracy of those moves. Sano, being an extremely strong man for his age, knew what endurance and strength was all about, and he knew without feeling them, that the punches and the kicks were all controlled: they were hard enough to seriously injure somebody, yet they never went far enough to finish the job. The techniques were something else all together. Saotome had mentioned that he was a practitioner of the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. The name itself was laughable, but seeing the techniques upholding the name was another matter. There was danger in those techniques, and if Ranma went all out on the simple basics, he could easily maim someone fatally.

So, after that, Sano had kept a close eye on Ranma Saotome. He even practiced with him in the mornings to keep him in line. He never did ask Kenshin or Kaoru as to why they agreed to let Ranma and the Tendo family stay at the Kamiya Dojo. He thought it best, instead, to sit back and make sure Ranma Saotome did nothing suspicious. But it was turning out to be harder than he thought because Ranma Saotome and the Tendo sisters were tough ones to hate.

Sano punched his pillow and turned to his side. He heard Yahiko cross the yard outside and hoped that the brat got his answers. In the meantime, Sano will wait for Saotome to screw up, and when or if it happens, he'll be the first one in line to beat the hell out of him. He hoped it was soon, because Ranma and the others were really making it hard for Sano to hate them…

Nabiki made her way happily to the Akabeko restaurant. She wasn't just lying to Kaoru that evening when she mentioned that she had it all taken care of. Today was the day that she was going to close a business deal that she had initiated two days after her family had crashed through the Kamiya roof. And she was going to the Akabeko that morning to meet with her current business partner.

"Nabiki-san!" Sekihara Tae, the proprietor of the restaurant greeted. "What can I do for you today, Nabiki-san?"

Nabiki greeted her in kind. "I'm suppose to be meeting someone here today. Has anyone come by yet?"

"No, we've had only families come in for a quick breakfast."

"I guess I'm too early."

"How about you just sit down and have some tea while you wait?"

Nabiki nodded and followed Tae to one of the seating tables. After a few moments, Tae kneeled by Nabiki and helped pour the tea.

"How is your family?"

"They're fine."

"They should come by more often," Tae smiled.

Nabiki grimaced. She had enough problems raising the funds for the property damages that Akane and Ranma had done to the Kamiya household, much less have enough to actually take them, especially Ranma, out to dinner at the restaurant. Oh well, Nabiki shrugged. At least Happosai had disappeared out of the picture for now. He had come back after that first night and had announced that he was going to spend his time in the past raising hell and high water raiding women's bedrooms. "Paradise, here I come!!!" was his parting words.

And seeing as how Kenshin or Sano didn't know what he was talking about, and Ranma was down after a beating from Akane, Happosai had no opposition to his scheme and shameful machinations.

Unfortunately for all of them, Kenshin had estimated that Genma and Soun were not going to be back from China soon. It may take weeks or months, Kenshin had said.

In addition to advertising the Kamiya dojo, Nabiki made a profit selling information about things that might prove useful to some people in that era, considering that she got an A+ in her History class. It was her dealings with certain power hungry officials that she had found out more about this latest business partner. Fortunately, he lived in Tokyo, and was a carriage distance ride from the Kamiya dojo.

So she had up and visited his current home in the city. Unfortunately for her, he had been with his sister in the country and was not due back until some vague time in the far future, or so that's what the remaining servant had told Nabiki.

With her contacts though, Nabiki had managed to wrangle the country address and had written to him. On a hunch, she had written to the city address as well and had it delivered. After only a day, she had received a reply, and from that day on, they had been exchanging notes, using the Akabeko as common ground. On the day before yesterday, Nabiki had finally received a letter that stated his desire to meet with her and listen to her proposal. At least now, with this new deal in the process of being closed, she could at least pay for the latest damages and still have more than enough for future savings.

Nabiki sighed. There was something that nagged her though, something that she couldn't quite put a finger on despite her complex way of thinking. Something about…

"Nabiki-san?" Tae interrupted Nabiki's thoughts. Nabiki looked up. "Is that your friend over there?"

Nabiki turned to where Tae was pointing and noticed a tall lean man. His deep blue black hair fell straight down his back and his dark clothes looked like they were of fine materials. He was a handsome man, but what surprised Nabiki was the weapon that he had placed by his side. It was obvious that it was a sword. A very expensive and fine looking sword.

"Mmm," Nabiki said. She thanked Tae and made her way to the stranger.

"Tendo Nabiki," she said abruptly introducing herself to the man for the very first time in person.

The stranger looked up at her and merely stared. Nabiki felt a chill go through her. He had the coldest eyes that she had ever seen, even colder than the ones that she sometimes saw in the mirror.

"Excuse my brother, Tendo-san," another voice said cutting through Nabiki's thoughts.

Nabiki snapped her head to the speaker. Her eyes widened and she gasped audibly.

"Is there anything the matter, Tendo-san?"

"N-nothing." said

"Oh," the girl in her soft voice, lowering her head in embarrassment. "How rude of me. Allow me to introduce my brother and myself…"

The sun shone over the rooftops of the other buildings casting long shadows in the yard. Ranma didn't notice. He had been training again in the dojo, since doing katas sometimes helped him to think. His thoughts that day were of his mother, Saotome Nodoka. He was surrounded by things that reminded him of his mother. Despite his mother having found out about the curse, seeing any sword still made him nervous, bringing to mind the old contract with Nodoka that his father had made him sign when he was a toddler.

The swords and the memories distracted him. Fearing those swords and memories had developed into a habit ever since he found out about the contract, a habit that he has not yet learned to control even though his mother had tried to assure him that the contract was now void. There was still that lingering fear. A fear that he has had no time to analyze or confront until now. The people, the place, everything of this time has forced him to remember.

"Ranma-kun, have you ever thought of working while you're stuck in this time era?" Kaoru asked from behind Ranma. Her voice washed away his thoughts for the moment.

Ranma paused in his practice and turned around, "Huh?"

"You seem to be good at your martial arts. Actually, quite impressive. I was just wondering if you've ever considered working as a teacher while you're stuck here."

"Well, back home, I was considered the heir to the Tendo Anything Goes School of Martial Arts Dojo, especially if I married Akane. I would've had to teach when Akane and I inherit it officially."

Kaoru smiled at his reference to his engagement to Akane, but decided not to mention it for now. But she did continue on her suggestion for him to teach. "I wouldn't mind if you taught here, since your style doesn't involve sword fighting."

Ranma smiled a little, noting the irony of her statement. "Well, I don't really know. I'll think about it."

"Oh well, anyway, lunch is almost ready. Didn't think you'd want to be called in last."

Ranma grinned, agreeing with her statement. So while Kasumi was finishing up with the last few touches of their meal, Ranma decided to wait on the porch that opened up to the back yard, where Kenshin and the others were still occupied.

Nabiki was staring at the girl who had introduced herself as Tendo Emi as they rode in Tendo Eiji's carriage. Eiji was Emi's brother, the one with the cold, cold eyes.

"Turn here, it's up ahead," Nabiki said to the other two when she managed to catch the scenery outside the window.

Eiji leaned out the window to instruct the driver. He scanned the sign that was hanging beside the entrance of their destination. "Kamiya Dojo?"

"That's where we're staying for now. Kamiya Kaoru was kind enough to let us."

"Is this not where Himura Kenshin resides as well?" Eiji said in his controlled voice.

Nabiki nodded once, wondering at the satisfied gleam in Eiji's eyes.

Since having met them at the restaurant, she was amazed at how different Eiji's personality was from the way he wrote his letters. In the letters, Nabiki had the impression that Eiji was a retiring old man who was slightly interested in politics. In person, he was a withdrawn younger man who spoke little of anything. He hardly spoke about himself, it was Emi who did all the talking. After their small repast at the Akabeko, Eiji mentioned that he would like to see the rest of Nabiki's sisters. Nabiki had also dropped the fact that her younger sister's fiancé was also staying with them. She missed the tightening of Eiji's lips, and the way Emi had sent a pleading glance at her brother. By then, Nabiki was settling the tab with Tae and was totally oblivious to the warning signs of trouble ahead.

"Well, here we are," Nabiki said, waiting for the coachman to open the carriage door. Her excitement distracted her from everything else. "Won't they all be surprised?"

Eiji schooled his features to hide everything while Emi walked a step behind him, as though prepared to face the end.

********* To be continued ***********

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