Reality Bites

Chapter 4 – Serenity

by Aya ([email protected])

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters!

This chapter is dedicated to my friend "Seffie" (See? I didn't use your name!) and the reviewers.

xxxxxEn route to Kyotoxxxxx

Kenshin glanced at his companions, more precisely, at the smiling prodigy that was walking along beside him. Soujirou had been wandering for about three years ever since Shishio's demise. Kenshin, knowing too well what it's like to be a rurouni, wondered what kind of places this young man visited. And how Misao managed to track him down.

The weasel girl however, was happily chatting beside Aoshi, who on first glance doesn't seem to take notice of her. But Himura Kenshin had always been excellent at catching details, his instincts were sharp, as required for an assassin. Therefore, he didn't miss the slight curl at the end of Aoshi's lips as Misao chattered on about an incident that apparently occurred when she was doing her morning strolls.

"They certainly seem comfortable with each other, ne, Himura-san?"

"Aa. It seems so, de gozaru yo." He caught the slip, as soon as it came out of his mouth. He cringed and half-expected a shrill cry of reprimand to follow, before he blinked and then realized that Kaoru was nowhere near where they were at the moment. Kaoru had single-handedly stopped the former rurouni's habit of ending his sentences with "de gozaru" and calling his female companions with "dono." One habit that she couldn't stop, however, was his habit of using "sessha." But as Megumi pointed out, every man has his flaws.

"Ah, are you alright, Himura-san?"

"Yes, I am. Thank you for your concern." He replied, bowing his head. There was more silence as they kept walking, watching as Aoshi replied to one of Misao's questions, eliciting a giggle from the girl...no...Kenshin's smile grew slightly sad as he realized it. Misao is nineteen, no longer a girl then.

"Do you wonder where the time has gone, Himura-san?" Soujirou's soft, feminine voice drew him out of his reverie. Blinking a couple of times, he focused his gaze on the still smiling prodigy.

"Yes, I do. A lot of times." He admitted.

"Time flows much faster when you are wandering, as I am sure you know only too well." Soujirou said, smile softening slightly.

"How was your journey?"

"It broadened my horizons. And, I was able to reflect on my younger years, by Shishio's side." His gaze slowly turned upwards, looking at the canopy and the sunlight that managed to filter through the thickness of leaves and branches.

A hand on his shoulder brought his gaze back to the crimson haired man who was once one of the most feared assassins in all of Japan. Kenshin smiled warmly, encouragingly at the much younger swordsman.

"I'm glad you found yourself, Soujirou." He said solemnly. Soujirou's eyes widened slightly at his words, but his smile broadened and he nodded his head.

"So am I."

xxxxKamiya-Himura Dojoxxxxx

Usagi bit her lip, looking at the building in front of her with trepidation. Her companion however, was glowering both at her and at the building. He was getting impatient and this waiting around wasn't helping him.

"Woman, make up your damn mind, will you?" He snapped. A sharp blue gaze was directed at him and Wufei found out first hand that Usagi could shift from friendly to fearsome in a matter of seconds.

"This is not easy for me, you know!" She exclaimed, cheeks burning slightly. Realizing what was making her so uncomfortable, Wufei could feel his own cheeks beginning to burn.

"You think I'm enjoying this?" He demanded. She gritted her teeth and crossed her arms, full on glaring this time.

"May I remind you that I'm not the one who was arguing with my friend over a certain girl, just an hour or so ago?"

Yes, Wufei could feel all of the blood rushing to his head, his cheeks were so hot, he swore he would have burn his fingers if he touched them. Seeing Wufei's obvious discomfort, Usagi softened slightly. It was her fault that he was in this mess in the first place.

And if he knew that they would be stuck here for six months...Usagi cringed. No, she better wait for the right moment to tell him that.

"Look, I'm sorry." Usagi said softly. "It's just that I'm very nervous at the moment and I get snappy when I'm nervous."

"It doesn't matter." Wufei said shortly, looking away. What was he thinking anyway? Why fight with Maxwell for this girl he barely knew? Why fight against a comrade, someone he would trust his life with—although he would rather paint his Gundam pink and dance in a tutu than admit that to Duo—for a girl that he met purely by chance and hadn't a clue about.

Before his thoughts could drag on, however, an unknown female voice spoke up.

"Usagi-san?" He could hear Usagi swallowing.

"K-Kaoru-san!" She exclaimed, trying desperately to hide her anxiety by feigning her cheerful tone. "I apologize for coming so early!" Wufei watched this girl with sharp eyes.

Kaoru wasn't in her usual obi, as she had been teaching Yahiko. She carried a bokken in one hand, while the other was planted firmly on her hip. Her smile was friendly, but Wufei detected some suspicion in her gaze when she looked over at him. It was quickly concealed, he had to give her credit for that, at least.

"Who is your friend?" Ah, the dreaded question, prompting both party involved to blush. Kaoru raised an eyebrow but waited patiently for an answer.

"Eeto, Kaoru-san...this is Chang Wufei." Usagi said carefully, wishing the damn blush would just go away. "My husband." Kaoru's blue eyes were as big as saucers when the words finally registered in her mind.

"You never mentioned that you are married, Usagi-san!" Kaoru exclaimed, face flushed with excitement as she looked happily from Usagi to Wufei. "Come on in! Pleased to meet you, Chang-san!"

"It's just Wufei, ojou-san." Wufei murmured politely, cringing on the inside at how polite he was acting to the woman. But he knew he had to be polite to her, else he'd be thrown out in the street in this strange place.

"I'll have to tell Yahiko to get a bigger futon." Kaoru said happily, drawing sharp intakes of breath from both Usagi and Wufei.

"Ah, that's alright, Kaoru-san." Usagi said hastily. "We can sleep with separate futons!"

"Nonsense!" Exclaimed Kaoru, still smiling. "We have one big enough. We have it for cases like this." She paused, looking at both of them. "Unless...ah, I shouldn't ask you that. Forgive me."

Usagi was bright red by the time they finally reached inside of the house and Wufei didn't look any better. They exchanged glances. Usagi was silently pleading Wufei to do something to solve this problem. The Chinese merely glared, indicating he hadn't a clue how to talk to Kaoru to get them two futons, instead of one big one.

xxxxxPresentxxxxx

"Any sign of her?" Asked Rei, sounding worried.

"No." Whispered Mina, shaking her head. To say that they were worried would be an understatement, yet the four senshi couldn't help but be worried. It wasn't everyday that their Princess would just up and disappear, right before their eyes!

"Where's Mako?"

"Makoto is still looking, she said she should be back soon." Told Ami.

"What went wrong? Was she unhappy or something?" Mina asked softly. "I know she's been distracted about something."

"I've noticed it too." Rei said, albeit reluctantly.

"I think we all did, but we just didn't do anything about it. But that's only because we all thought it would be best if we left Usagi alone." Ami said, diplomatically.

"Yeah." Mina said, her mood picking up slightly. "Maybe Pluto gave her some sort of vacation or something?" The other two were reluctant to agree, not knowing how close Mina's words were to the truth.

"You guys!" All three looked up, seeing Makoto running towards them. The tall brunette arrived at their side rather breathless.

"Anything?"

"I can't find her anywhere." Seeing the dejected looks the others wore, Mako smiled brilliantly. "I did find out something interesting, though."

"What?"

"Remember those group of guys at the arcade?"

"Oh, you mean the ones that were fighting over Usagi?"

"That's the one!"

"What about them?"

"I overheard two of them talking about something. They looked like they were worried about something, or someone, so I thought I'd find out what's up."

"Get to the point, Mako." Snapped Rei.

"Sheesh." Mako scowled, but continued anyway. "Looks like the guy Usagi picked is missing too." Three pairs of eyes widened. Minako broke the silence first by bursting out laughing and pretty soon, all four girls were giggling like co-conspirators.

Setsuna hid her smile behind her cup of coffee, as currently, Haruka and Michiru were engaged in a debate. They had insisted that it wasn't an argument, for Hotaru's sake, but it was clear to Setsuna what exactly was going on. As much as she disliked laughing at other people's misfortunes, a fight between Michiru and Haruka are always so amusing.

First of all, it should be made absolutely clear that their roles in the relationship are different. It might seem like a no-brainer to some, but when they see one Michiru Kaioh giving one Haruka Tenoh a piece of her mind, they would understand it completely.

Haruka, like any male in her shoes, would eventually back down. Of course, the main point here is eventually.

Second thing is, their fight can last quite a while, because Haruka is stubborn. But Michiru, the normally soft-spoken senshi, does lose her temper. It's quite rare and only a couple of people have seen it, but when she does...

All hell breaks loose.

Hotaru was sitting next to Setsuna, contemplating the situation. The young girl seemed agitated, anxious. She didn't like it when her Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama fight. And Setsuna-mama was too distracted to do anything.

But what could she possibly do? Despite her status as a senshi, there really wasn't much that she can do or say. Respecting her elders is very important after all.

"Is there something wrong, Hota-chan?" Setsuna asked, as she took a sip of her coffee. The purple-haired senshi thought the question over for a few moments, before turning to the elder senshi.

"Why are Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama fighting?"

"Because of the Princess."

"Why?"

"Because Haruka-papa doesn't think that we should leave her alone at a time like this." Hotaru frowned.

"Why?"

"Because she think it's too dangerous for the Princess to be alone."

"And what does Michiru-mama think?"

"She thinks the Princess deserves a little time off." Hotaru paused for a moment, staring at the two senshi who were in the midst of an argument. Actually, it would be more correct to say that Michiru is in the middle of an argument, as all Haruka was doing was stare at the wall and listen, looking quite disgruntled.

"Setsuna-mama?"

"Yes, Hota-chan?"

"I think Michiru-mama is right." Setsuna smiled, setting her cup down on the table.

"You know what, sweetheart?" Setsuna paused, brushing some strands of dark purple hair from the youngest senshi's eyes. "I think so too." And the conversation was at an end. Haruka was the only one displeased with the situation, but there was nothing she could do about it.

After all, three against one hardly seems fair, don't you agree?

xxxxxLocation Unknownxxxxx

A woman in her mid-twenties sat in the middle of a small bedroom, looking out of the open door. The weather was perfect, a great time to be outside, taking a walk and enjoying the weather.

Her pale features, however, indicate that she rarely ventures very far from her home and her frail beauty showed that it is her condition that made her unable to afford such luxuries as a walk. She coughed softly, wincing slightly, a pale hand clutching the front of her obi.

"Serenity-sama?" A voice called out. She looked up suddenly, silver hair cascading from the loose knot on top of her head. The servant shuffled inside, smiling warmly at her.

"I was wondering where you are!" She exclaimed, kneeling behind the lady. "Let me fix that for you." She wasted no time, pulling out a brush and beginning to brush the long silver locks.

"Has my husband returned?" The servant stopped mid-brush, swallowing slowly.

"No, he hasn't." She said solemnly, feeling the lady's disappointment, even though the lady didn't let it be known through words. The servant could see it by the slight droop of the shoulders.

"I'm sure he'll come back soon, Serenity-sama!" She exclaimed once more, putting up a happy front so the lady will no longer be sad. Or at least, distract her long enough to forget for a while.

"Minako-san?"

"Yes Serenity-sama?"

"How is your husband?"

"Duo is fine, my lady!" Chirped the happy servant. "The Gods have been merciful to us this year and he's finally able to keep the job for once!" And then she went on to rant about her incompetent of a husband. The lady smiled, some color returning to her cheeks. She was awfully fond of Minako, the servant's cheerful attitude always made the days bearable somehow.

"There! All done!" Minako said, finally, startling the lady out of her reverie. She looked to her right, where a mirror was propped up and saw her reflection. A smile stole across her lips as she recognized the hairstyle that Minako gave her.

Her hair parted in two and then rolled up to two different globes on top of her head. The first time her husband saw the hairstyle he had laughed and teased her about it, yet his tone was gentle, indicating that he actually liked it.

"I'm sure Master will come home soon, Serenity-sama." Minako whispered softly, patting the lady on the shoulder.

"Thank you Minako."

Late, I know, I know. I can't help it, sorry, but my life is hectic. Education and friends are my two priorities. Actually, the sheer amount of work I've been handed the past semester is the reason why I shouldn't apologize for this delay. If you want to blame anyone, blame my professors. Besides, balancing schoolwork and salvaging a friendship takes its toll.

*sighs* I should apologize to those of you who were very kind enough to review. I love your feedback, I seriously do. In fact, they're the reasons why I'm still continuing with this fic even though my life is utterly shit at the moment. I apologize if I seem rude, but my mood's been changed rather drastically.

*bows*

On a lighter note, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed for the last chapter, they meant a lot, honestly.

Usagi Asia Maxwell – Can I just call you Asia-san? -_-; Your penname is so long! Such enthusiastic response, gotta love it! LOL!

Zaeria – Your questions will be answered in due time. So as for now, I'll leave you guessing! I'm evil, I know! ^_-

Oracle of the Stars – If I had this kind of reaction every time I write, I just might write faster. *hint hint, wink wink*

Tenshi-Hotaru – lol. That was the idea, I was wondering whether or not everyone caught that.

If you please, disregard my little rant above and just tell me what you think of this chapter. Sorry for sounding like a brat, but I get bad days too, you know? ^^;

Any theories? Anyone? Raise your hand if you're confused! Raise TWO hands if you think this story has no plot whatsoever! lol. Aya-chan lives off reviews. Feed Aya?