Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, Block buster video, Saved by the Bell or Shinsengumi! Which is really too bad cause some of those boys would really be worth owning…
Summary: This story takes place between the years 1992 and 2005. It's not exactly a reincarnation story but more like genetic memory. A descendant of Hajime Saito begins remembering where he comes from.
Author Note: The Hajime Saito portrayed in this story comes mostly from the Japanese drama named "Shinsengumi!" and was played by actor Odagiri Jo, his cool portrayal of Saito has greatly inspired me (the fact that he's hot helps too!). So if he seems out-of-character sometimes, it's just my love for Mr. Odagiri's performance that makes this Saito act as he does!
Think of me…
Chapter 1: The beginning of memory Part I
The year is 1992! The place is sunny California in the US of A and the sounds of banging and shouting woke Hajime Saito Davila from his already fitful sleep…
'It's just as well that dream was way too weird…' he thought as he forced himself out of bed advising himself that he should never watch Samurai movies with his girlfriend Tori ever again. His latest dream had put him somewhere in feudal Japan wearing a blue and white coat squaring off against some red-head (dude?) that he called Battousai.
It was a pretty vivid dream! He had heard himself speaking in Japanese which was nuts because the only other language he could speak aside from English was Spanish! What was crazier was that he understood what was being said!! He could actually remember the feel of the sword hilt and the sound of the swords clashing and the smell of blood even!!! Crazy…
"Regresa descarado!" he heard his neighbor shout as a door slammed in his neighbor's apartment effectively ending his reminiscence on the strange dream. He glared at the wall that connected his room to their apartment. The new neighbors were always going at it but the morning shouting matches weren't nearly as bad as their raucous makeup trysts in the evening. All the noise they were constantly making made it extremely difficult for him to do his homework or get any sleep!
No amount of complaints to the land lord had helped either since his daughter was the one living in that apartment with her new husband!! So his new job had been quite welcome not just for the extra income but also for the relatively peaceful hours at work at night in which he could easily do his homework during down time. Plus his boss was cool enough to always give him plenty of time to get his track and field training. The man had even put up a picture of Hajime by the counter on a big sign that said "Olympic Employee of the Year".
This year he had made it into the Olympic track team and his mom had been so excited she sold her car to pay for her trip to Spain! He had tried to stop her but boy if looks could kill! Mom was gonna go and nothing was gonna stop her! His mother was so happy she had been bouncing off the walls since he told her so there was little he could do now other than make sure he came home with a gold medal. To top it off he would be a senior in high school after summer and once he graduated and left to Marine Corp. Boot camp then he wouldn't have to worry about obnoxious noisy neighbors!
"This is going to be the best year ever!" he reminded himself. He pulled out his khaki work pants and his blue Blockbuster polo shirt from his drawer and stuffed it into his back pack. He grabbed his name tag from the top of the dresser and stuck it in his back pack too. He headed out to the bathroom to get ready for school stopping first by his mom's room to see if she had left for work already. He sighed of course she had left for work his mother was one of the most responsible people he knew and without a car she had to leave extra early. She always got to work on time and she rarely missed a day!
The only irresponsible thing she had ever done in her life was sleep with that useless waste of a man that had dared to call himself his father! He couldn't understand what in the name of all that was good his mother had seen in him!!! He could've lived happily his entire life without ever meeting him! As he stepped into his shower he couldn't help feeling guilty. His mother had worked hard to raise him.
That bastard's reappearance in their lives had nearly killed his mother's joy over his making the Olympic team. That rat bastard had impregnated his mother then left her and if it hadn't been for a chance meeting at the Anime Expo where his mother loved to volunteer every year that moron would never have known of his existence!
"And I would've loved to keep it that way!" he growled angrily as he stepped out of the shower. His mother loved the Anime Expo! She was an incurable geek and she had been attending Sci fi conventions and Expos since before he was born. After he was born it was years before she was able to do the things she loved again. That filth of a father of his had now made one of the things his mother loved inaccessible because the company his family owned was one of the new sponsors of the Expo. His mother didn't want anything to do with the Expo ever again.
He shook off his anger as he dressed. He knew it was hardly productive to be angry. He needed to focus and concentrate on his goals! Someday he'd be able to teach that bastard a lesson for the suffering he gave them! He hurriedly dressed and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. He smirked in amusement as he saw the lunch bag his mother had prepared him. She drew the Olympic rings on the brown paper bag with colored markers and drew happy faces inside of them. He picked up the bag and put it in his backpack careful not to smash it.
It was the usual stuff at school. Mr. Belding was giving Zack detention for selling unauthorized and over-priced t-shirts of him and Slater the Olympic hopefuls of Bayside high!
"Yo Haji!" Tori – his girlfriend – yelled by way of a greeting as she parked her motorcycle and hurried across the parking lot to catch up with him. He shook his head in amusement and raised a hand in greeting stopping to wait for her. She had never been the girly affectionate type but that's probably why he liked her so much! She glomped him the instant she was in arms reach though what she lacked in girly-ness she made up in pure fire! Again why he liked her!
They caught up with the others and exchanged greetings and walked into the school towards their lockers. He smiled amused as Jessie Spano was reaming A.C. Slater for some sexist remark and A.C. wasn't doing a very good job of defending himself. Lisa was busy checking her makeup and finding new ways to look even more spoiled and vain. Zack was still successfully conning students out of their allowance by purchasing the t-shirts. Screech showed up with the Glee Club and they all purchased t-shirts from Zack!
He chuckled as Tori's possessive hold on his waist tightened. The pretty girls from the Cheerleading squad had arrived with Kelly wanting to demonstrate the cheer they developed for the Olympic hopefuls of Bayside. Almost every boy in the hallway was whooping and hollering enthusiastically as the girls kicked their legs and waved their arms chanting a cheerful little corny ditty. Hajime rolled his eyes and Tori laughed…
"You know Haji…that's why I like you! You're immune to excessive girlie-ness!" she pointed out laughing but she relaxed her grip a little.
"Yea the only boy with enough brains in this entire school to not be swayed by this sexist display is Hajime Davila!" Jessie declared annoyed as she slammed her locker shut and waved good bye as she headed towards her first AP class. Hajime laughed as Jessie walked away. For some reason his eclectic group of friends made him feel as though he were the only sane and normal person in the school! His early morning irritation forgotten he dumped his backpack in his locker and took his notebook and text books for his first class leaving Zack to be bullied by Tori into giving up a portion of the profits to him and Slater. He didn't doubt for a second that she would succeed…
Tiredly he finally reached his house that night after a long but satisfying day. Mom was still up gladly waiting for him as she read her new Star Wars novel. They talked for a while as she served him some dinner. He was surprised that he was still hungry despite the fact that his boss had bought him an early dinner at work and his coach's wife had actually made a special lunch for him. He figured that perhaps it was because the coach had stepped up his training in preparation for the Olympics.
'Being an Olympic hopeful sure has its perks!' he thought as his mom asked him how his day went, how Tori was doing and how school was.
"You know mom…if you and I pool resources I have enough saved that between the two of us we can buy a really nice car and we could share it at least until we can get another one," he began pensively. His mother frowned but before she could shoot it down arguing that it was his college money he quickly explained his plan. He reminded her that he wasn't going to college right away.
He was going to the marine corp. right after high school first. Since high school was just a couple blocks from home and the video store he worked at was just across the street from their apartment building she could use the car on the weekdays to go to work and he could use the car on weekends to hang out with his friends. He could drive down to the beach and go surfing early on Saturdays and Sundays without worrying about his board on Zack's small and impractical convertible. After much dealing and wheeling he finally convinced her.
"Alright we can go this weekend! Maybe we'll get an SUV so you can strap your board to the roof!" she suggested cheerfully as she cleared the dishes.
"Ok mom!" he agreed easily. Now he wouldn't have to worry about his mom leaving so early or the weirdoes and psychos on the bus that might hurt her. He gave her a quick peck in the cheek and said good night…
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