Standard disclaimers:
I don't own Ruroken. Unfortunately Watsuki and some big name companies already 
have this
privilege. BUT: If you want to use one of 'my' characters, 'my' notes or some 
parts of
'my' story-line it would be nice to ask me FIRST, because they are MINE!

Again: Special thanks to Hana Himura for editing and Firuze Khanume for 
pre-reading and
giving helpful hints and advice.

To this chapter:
The character 'Asiyah' appearing here is originally created by Firuze Khanume in 
her
story 'Of Legendary Creatures and Mystical Beasts'. Thanks for letting me use 
her =^^=!
Oh, this might be a little spoiler for her story....
Furthermore the POV goes rampaging here... I hope it is still understandable. I 
used the 
first chapters to introduce the characters, starting with the next I'll focus 
and explore 
them deeper =^^=



Chapter4: Trial of strength



The day of the tournament came and busily the members of the household prepared 
to leave, 
Misao's head popping up out of nowhere at every possible and even impossible 
place
"ENISHI? WHERE ARE MY TRAINING CLOTHES?"

"They are where you left them, Misao!"

Tomoe, Tokio and Megumi waited at the entrance, Enishi by their side watching an 
over-
exited Misao running back and forth looking for her cloths.

Tokio rolled her eyes annoyed
"You should have organised your things yesterday evening. You really could be 
less messy."

Misao's head popped up from the second floor
"Keep your comments for yourself, Tokio. I'm sure you put them away just to 
prove your are
right."

Sneering Tokio eyed her little sister
"Oh, yes. I love to wait and come too late. HURRY UP! I don't mind when you 
fight in your 
pyjamas... but hurry up!"

Quickly Megumi interfered, feeling the dawning confrontation
"Maybe in the laundry basket?"

Misao's head vanished
"YEAH! FOUND IT!"

Shaking her head Megumi took Misao's bag as the last cloth was put inside and 
they 
followed the others who where already waiting outside
"About time, Misao-chan."

Misoa's plait leaped high in the air, her features getting angry
"KECHO-GERI!"

As Tokio dodged the expected attack nonchalantly, Misao's foot landed in the 
wall around 
the garden. Enishi just raised an eyebrow bored
"Are you two ready, can we leave at last?"

Misao was instantly back on her feet 
"Yep, I can't wait for the tournament to start!"

They managed to find their way through the traffic-jam and arrived just in time 
at the 
training centre, the preparations were already in progress and the Enishi-gumi 
looked for 
the organisers of the tournament.

"There is Ken-san!" Megumi had spotted the remarkable red-head in the crowd at 
first 
glance and the Enishi-gumi turned their pace into the direction.

Megumi's eyes narrowed observing the many people around Kenshin, obviously all 
interested 
in talking to him and getting his attention
"Do I have hallucinations or is there a second red-head by his side?"

Tokio raised on her tip-toes and watched for a while the other red-head, busy 
bringing 
order into the crowd and keeping some too impertinent girls away.
"mm, you are right."

"There is Kaoru!" Misao waved at her and really, standing close to Kenshin, 
Kaoru visibly 
had a hard time not to be carried away by the mass

They had managed to burrow a way through to Kenshin and stood in front of him 
being 
greeted with visible relief
"I can't tell you how happy I am to see you. You can't imagine how stressing 
this 
organising could get."

Enishi turned to wobbling mass around them, mostly girls, obviously only 
interested in 
seeing Kenshin
"Phee, can't see what attracts those girls to another girl."
He was elbowed by his sister and heard an cough. He turned and faced the second 
red-head, 
young woman with the same hair as Kenshin's, even her eyes looked similar. There 
were 
golden sparks between the basic colour. It were the most fascinating eyes he had 
ever seen.

Kenshin shrieked up and pointed to the woman beside him
"This is my sister Asiyah. I told you already, that she would help you with the 
beverages,
you need every hand you can get."
Kenshin introduced his sister properly to everyone of the Enishi-gumi, Enishi 
watched her 
attentively as he bowed to her, and registered her interested look. He knew that 
he 
attracted attention with his white hair, his turquoise eyes and the 
black-leather suit he 
was still wearing for he had taken the motorcycle.

She smiled winning to everyone,
"It is nice to meet you all, I already heard a great deal of you all."

Wondering Misao shook her head
"Do you take part in the tournament?"

Asiyah stifled a laughter
"Oh, no, not this time. Kenshin seemed so busy with the preparations and he had 
a hard 
stand to get enough volunteers to prepare and serve the food and beverages that 
I promised
to help you out with the stalls."

Kenshin took one paper from the clip-board and handed it to his sister
"This is the plan for the fights. You'll be able to follow the finals, you can 
close your 
stalls then."

A smirk appeared on Enishi's features
"Who told you that you'll be in the finals, Himura?"

Astonished Asiyah looked between her brother and Enishi, there seemed to be some 
animosity
between them, but Kenshin returned the smirk by grinning wide
"We won't fight in the first round, so there is much hope you'll reach the 
second."

Impatiently Misao moved from one feet to another
"Shouldn't we start to prepare for the tournament? Were are the changing rooms?"

Kaoru checked her watch
"MY GODS! You are right! It is about time."
She shoved Misao already in the direction of the lockers and Tokio waved behind 
them
"Good luck Misao! I'll bet on you!"

Misao couldn't help but roll her eyes and muttered
"I'm the one to blame when she loses her money."

Kenshin and Enishi just received a do-it-well-nod from their sisters and walked 
into the 
opposite direction.

Finally Tomoe, Tokio, Megumi and Asiyah were left behind and headed over to the 
stalls 
they had agreed to take care of during the competition.

Megumi had the responsibilities for the organisation of the refreshments and 
thoughtfully 
she laid her finger on her mouth
"mmm, how will we handle this... two for the beverages and two for the food."

Cat-ears popped up and Tomoe took Tokio's hand
"We can take the beverages. Asiyah and you can take care of the food."

Fox-ears popped up
"We only have soft-drinks here, I thought you would you that."

Cat-ears disappeared
"Oh." disappointed Tomoe's hand dropped.

Fox-ears still high in the air Megumi suggested
"Asiyah and I will take care of the cool drinks, it will be busier there and you 
two are 
skilled cooks. I'm sure you will doing fine there."

Shrugging her shoulders Tokio answered for her now quiet friend
"I have no objections."

Tomoe and Tokio started to set up their stall: heating the grill, taking out the 
sticks
with the chicken on it and forming the rice-balls.

With the first sticks on the fire Tomoe turned up her nose
"I'll smell like a roast chicken tonight."

Smirking Tokio turned the first sticks
"Akira will survive it."

Tomoe's features showed obvious displeasure now
"Great. Once in a month I see him and on this occasion I smell like a fried 
chicken."

Tokio shot a deadly glance at the opposite stand where Megumi and Asiyah busily 
handed 
glasses filled with different soft-drinks to their customers
"Now we know the reason why Megumi didn't want to run THIS stall."

With the smell of roast chicken filling the air, Tomoe could do nothing but 
agree.
All of a sudden Tokio waved her hand enthusiastically and Tomoe cast an 
astonished glance 
at her friend "Sano!! Hey Sano! Over here!"

Noticing the waving woman and recognising her, Sano turned his pace in her 
direction. This
could be a good deal, how promising.

He leaned with his shoulder negligent against a post of the stall, it nearly 
gave in and quickly he stepped aside.
"Oi, Tokio, Tomoe."

Tokio decided it would be useless to beat around the bush and came directly to 
the topic 
"Are you taking bets about the tournament?"

Barely Sano nodded
"On Kempo and Kendo, on the winner. 1000 Yen is minimum, no limit. You want to 
set?"

Exited Tokio leaned forward, critically observed by Tomoe
"Then five-thousand on Misao in the Kempo-section and on Aoshi in the 
two-swords-section..." 
she wrinkled her nose and thought some time about the competitors in the 
Kendo-section she knew. 
She had always trusted and relied on her acquaintances and friends. 
"Five thousand on Kaoru and Enishi in the...What is it, Tomoe?" 
Tokio looked at Tomoe who had elbowed her and shook her head denying casting a 
short 
glance at the opposite stall. Tokio immediately concluded that Tomoe wanted to 
indicate 
that Enishi wasn't the best choice, and Tomoe knew the competitors much better.
"Oh, then five-thousand on Kaoru and...Tomoe?"

"Okita."

Tokio nodded her approval "Okita."

Sano shrugged his shoulders "Set. Can you give me the money now?"

"Sure." 
Casually he leaned forward over the grill as Tokio started to look for her money 
and Tomoe
sold some rice-balls.

"Here." 
He took the twenty-thousand yen spirited them away into his pockets and took two 
chicken-
sticks negligent.
"HEY!" Tokio protested, her eyes flaming in anger.

Lazily Sano waved his hand, sticks between his teeth and sauntered to the stall 
with the 
refreshing 
"See it as expenses, Tokio." 
he grinned as he realised that she was already too occupied with hungry visitors 
of the 
tournament to bother about him and continued his way to the beverages. There was 
this neat
upper-class woman 'What was her name?...Megumi' and with slight surprise he 
observed her 
serving at this occasion.

"Oi, woman!"

Megumi thought she would die! There was this annoying, dump delivery boy again!
"What do you want?"

"Do you have beer?"

Scarcely Megumi suppressed her anger, he was not only dump as she recalled it 
right, he 
was also a bottomless pit concerning beer. She remembered very well that no beer 
cans had 
been left after he had visited them, he had even found the ones she had hidden 
in the 
garden. Teeth-grinding she handed him beer.
"Here."

Delightful he lead the glass against his lips and in one draught the cold, 
refreshing 
beverage ran down his throat, and he handed the glass back. Even Asiyah had 
stopped for a 
second observing him wide-eyed, Megumi couldn't hide her astonished glance, but 
quickly 
she re-gained her senses as Sano grinned barefaced at her.
"200 yen, please."

Shocked Sano raised an eyebrow
"I thought this is one for free!"

ENOUGH! Megumi's fists tightened in anger and prepared to tell this dump idiot 
in front of
him what she thought of him.

"YOU HAVE BEER??!!"
Completely distracted Megumi shook her head and looked over to Tokio's angry 
features, she
thought she would be facing Misao and could expect a Kecho-geri at any second. 
Much to her
surprise even Tomoe was looking annoyed, a rare sight in her usually calm 
features. As she
turned her attention back to the free-loader, he had already disappeared and 
Asiyah just 
shrugged her shoulders on her questioning look. Obviously she had been 
distracted as well 
and fuming mad Megumi continued her selling.

They noticed when the tournament started for the yard became visibly empty. 
Somewhat 
relieved Tokio and Tomoe registered that they were already out of meat it had 
sold like 
hot cakes, at last they wouldn't have to spend more time in the smell.

After Megumi and Asiyah exchanged a glance, Megumi suggested:
"I'd like to see Aoshi, would you mind taking care here while I am looking for 
him? We can
change later."

Asiyah smiled warmly at her and Megumi couldn't deny that she looked like her 
brother. 
Well, Ken-san had a girlish face she had to admit.
"That is fine with me. I haven't seen Kenshin in a tournament for a while and I 
always 
wonder how he has improved."

Taking some glasses Megumi waved to Tokio and Tomoe
"I want to have a short look how it is going, how about you?"

Annoyed Tokio sniffed on her cloths
"Honestly I'd prefer a shower first."

Tomoe's features grumbled as she agreed
"You are completely right, maybe we can use Misao's shower gel. I want to get 
rid of this 
stench. Go first, I'll follow."

Tokio strolled over to Megumi who waited for her, there was still something she 
wanted to 
clear.
"You did this on full purpose, Megumi!"

"Did what?"

"You knew that the chicken-sticks would smell and you didn't tell us that there 
where beer
on the other stand!"

Slyly Megumi laughed
"Well, I wanted that we sell something and not that you two drink everything 
alone."

Teeth-grinding Tokio had to admit that Megumi was right to some extent. After 
all she knew
her quite well and headed grumbling for the women's changing rooms.

Meanwhile Megumi went into the huge hall and looked for the place where the 
two-swords-
competitions were held. She had to pass the one-sword-preselections and from the 
corner of
her eye she recognised Kenshin in his armour, he would be fighting in the next 
round. 
Well, she could wait for a moment and watch this fight. The opponent attacked, 
she heard 
the yells from both competitors, listened to the loud step short before the blow 
was 
supposed to land, the opponents passed each other... The crowd around her gasped 
as the 
judge raised the flag, Kenshin didn't get the point. Megumi asked the man 
standing next to
her
"What is going on?"

The man kept his eyes fixed on the happenings in the arena 
"It is the first round and Himura is losing against a newcomer."[1]

"WHAT?"
Megumi thought she wouldn't hear right. In all those years she had attended this 

University, she had never seen him losing in the first round.
"Against whom?" She wanted to know and the man quickly checked his programme.

"Makoto Shishio."

Makoto Shishio? Makoto Shishio? Megumi frowned, but as hard as she thought, she 
couldn't 
recall the name and the crowed around her gasped once more. Shishio had landed 
the next 
blow and it counted. Hastily Megumi pressed the beverages into the hands of the 
man beside
her and charged back to Asiyah and Tomoe. Breathing heavily she stopped between 
the two 
stalls.

"Ken...shin...is...losing."

"WHAT?" Tomoe dropped one rice-ball to the ground. One of the hardest rivals of 
her 
brother was out in the first round?

Attentive and astonished Asiyah looked at Megumi.
"He is already losing?"
She recalled all the hours he had spend with training and the passion he had put 
into his 
sport. It couldn't be!

Megumi was only capable of nodding and waving her hand, indicating Asiyah that 
she could 
leave to watch the outcome. Thankfully Asiyah took the offer and headed towards 
the arena.
And really, what she witnessed was the end of the fight, the opponent of her 
brother just 
got the last point he needed to win. Instead of bowing respectfully to his 
opponent, the 
winner threw his head back and laughed out loud, high on his victory.

Asiyah rushed forward to her brother, she knew his ambition to be the best too 
well. As he
removed his helmet she could see sparkles in his eyes reflecting golden.
"What happened, Kenshin?"

Through clenched teeth he explained the problem
"He was better than I."

"Do you know him?"

"No, I have never seen him before on the campus."

Both observed how Shishio walked off the arena laughing wild and self-confident, 
greeted 
by a beautiful woman.

Kenshin shrugged his shoulders.
"No use to ponder about lost fights, maybe Enishi or Okita will defeat him."

Surprised Asiyah glanced at her brother
"Why don't you want him to win? When he proves to be the best?"

Serious Kenshin turned to his sister
"Something is odd about him, I can feel it. It is his ki, he seems twisted."

Asiyah raised an eyebrow but trusted her brother's judgement, she had felt it, 
too. They 
were both sensible to shifting in personalities.
"What do you do now?"

"I'll watch the end of the tournament."

"Who is next?"

Kenshin shook his head, still chewing on his defeat
"Enishi against Kuwamura, a third year student, I'm sure Enishi will win."

"Enishi is the white haired? Tomoe's brother?"

"Right."

Exited Asiyah sat down beside Kenshin "I want to see how he fights."

Astonished Kenshin glanced at his sister, but soon they concentrated on the 
competition.

***

Tokio closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the hot water dropping on her 
face, 
running down her body. The smell of the cherry-flavoured shower-gel her sister 
used, was a
greeted change from the fried chicken, although she would have preferred her own 
lavender-
flavoured shower-gel.

She wrinkled her eyebrows as she heard someone charging into the lockers and 
yelling
"KECHO-GERI!"
The cracking of the wall was inevitable, Misao was back. What was she doing 
here? She was 
supposed to fight. Tokio turned off the water, wrapped a towel around her and 
walked over 
only to see a red-faced Misao. She had never seen her so upset before, her plait 
was in a 
complete mess, her training-outfit in a full disorder and one eye was swollen. 
As Tokio 
could tell from a long-year experience the eye would turn blue during the next 
days.
She grabbed her sister by her shoulders
"What happened, Misao."

If this was possible, Misao's eyes flashed even more in anger
"I'm expelled."

"WHAT?"

"I...WAS...DISQUALIFIED!"

Confused Tokio looked at her fuming mad sister
"Why?"

"One of the judges told me that he would exclude me if I couldn't control my bad 
temper 
and after three admonitions, he excluded me."

Torn between her emotions Tokio tried to figure out which feeling gained the 
upper hand:
Satisfaction for the reprimand of her sister or anger for the exclusion of her. 
Well, 
Misao was her sister and this reflected on her as well. She grabbed Misao on her 
gi and 
dragged her behind her to the arena where the kempo-competition took place
"Where is that judge?" She was still struggling if she should thank him or yell 
at him.

"But... But..." Misao was only able to stutter and her sister turned, her 
expression told 
her better to be silent and she pointed at one side of the arena.

"Shut up, Misao. I set some money on you, so you better be quiet."

Closing her eyes Misao decided to endure the embarrassment that would follow for 
sure.
When Tokio whispered in her ear she opened her eyes
"Who is it?"

"The lanky one with the black hair in a low pony-tail."

Misao pointed to one man standing aside, just relaxing and drinking some water, 
Tokio's 
eyes narrowed at the sight. This was the man who disqualified her sister, who 
had dared to 
expel her? She dragged her behind her and stopped directly behind him. 
Unconsciously she 
raised to her tip-toes as she spoke to him.
"Excuse me, sir!"

Slowly he turned his attention to her and Misao began nervously to squirm
"What is it?"

Tokio found herself confronted with the most narrow eyes she had seen in her so 
far life 
-minted by European features- and even ccompared to the English men he had a 
hatched face. 
She forgot what she wanted to say and just stared at him, his eyes seemed to be 
of a 
yellow colour, maybe gold? It reminded her of a wolf. Misao stirred in her grip 
what 
remembered her of what she wanted to do.
"You expelled my sister?"

His features remained impassive as he nodded to Misao
"Is this your sister?"

"Yes."

"Then you are right, I expelled her."

"Why?" 

"You should ask her, but as far as I can see the bad temper runs in your 
family."

Tokio's face reddened in the most crimson colour Misao had ever witnessed.
"WHAT?"

Now his lips twisted as he mocked her, running his eyes down her body
"See what I mean?"

Misao managed to get Tokio's attention whispering in her ear
"Let us disappear, please. This is SO embarrassing, you are still in the towel."

Shocked Tokio looked down and really, she was standing in front of this man, 
talking with 
him and was wearing nothing but this damned towel! Now she knew why she had 
received all 
this weird looks. If this was possible, her face reddened even more and was 
dragged away 
by Misao followed by derisive laughter.

"Geez, Tokio. You are really embarrassing sometimes."

***

The highlight of the tournament was near: the finals. Only four competitors were 
left: 
Enishi, Okita, Shishio and Yamamoto. The Enishi-gumi watched with anticipation 
the final 
decision. The judge entered the arena and Tokio gasped for air, it was the lanky 
one who 
excluded her sister! He had already decided on the Kempo-section! Tokio leaned 
over to 
Kenshin

"Who is this?"

"Hajime Saitou, he studied at Tokyo University also but is long finished. He 
works for the
Tokyo police now. He is a very competent and skilled fighter. That is the reason 
why I 
asked him to judge in this tournament."

Tokio recalled the moment as she spoke with him, wearing nothing but this towel. 
This man 
was working for the police?
"He disqualified Misao."

"Really?" Astonished Kenshin looked at the little, slender woman. "What for?"

"Bad temper."

Tokio looked VERY annoyed and Kenshin laid a hand on her shoulder
"I'm sure he didn't do that without a good reason. He is a very mean man, but 
fair."

"YUKISHIRO AGAINST YAMAMOTO. Fight for place three and four." Saitou announced 
at this 
moment turning their attention towards the fight.

The opponents entered the arena, facing each other, bowing deep before the fight 
started. 
They stared at each other, judged each other before they announced the first 
attack and 
passed, the flag was raised, Enishi got the point.

"Who do you think will win this fight, Kenshin?" Asiyah leaned forward and 
followed the 
fight concentrated and Kenshin eyed his sister suspicious. Since when was she 
interested 
in competitions? Even more when she didn't participate and he was already 
defeated?

"I think Enishi will win. They have fought so often together and Enishi is more 
skilled..." 
"KENSHIN! Misao! I heard what happened! Isn't this tragic?"
He was interrupted by Kaoru who had won her tournament and had decided to look 
for Misao 
to comfort her for her disqualifying.

"Yes," he nodded "But I admit that I underestimated this Shishio."

Kaoru sat down just in front of him beside Misao and looked up wide-eyed at him
"You think you could beat him?"

Frowning Kenshin recalled the fight
"I'm not sure, his technique is very good and his speed is surprisingly high."

"And his spirit is a strong one."
Aoshi added entering the scene together with Megumi. As always they just walked 
side by 
side, not touching each other, but the closeness between them was undeniable.

"YUKISHIRO." The winner of the match for the third place was announced and 
bowing Yamamoto
and Enishi left the arena.

"SHISHIO AGAINST OKITA."

The last fight was announced and exited the whole group leaned forward to follow 
the fight
closely. 

The competitors entered the scene and stared, fixed each other.
After some minutes of staring they started yelling the first attack, Saitou 
raised the 
flag, Shishio got the point.

Kenshin waved his hand
"This is not good..." He watched the next exchange attentively, again Shishio 
got the 
point "Okita has problems against him."

Remembering the money she had set on the man, Tokio turned to Kenshin
"Is Okita this good? Can he beat Shishio?"

"I think yes."

A murmuring went through the ground as the next point was given to Okita.

"Seems he found a counter for this attack." Aoshi resumed his impression.

Again, Tokio recalled an important point
"Did you win your competition?"

He barely nodded "Yes."

Tokio turned to the girl seated in front of her
"What about you, Kaoru?"

"Yes, I won."

Kenshin interjected "Her fighting style is very good, I realised when she 
trained with us."

Proudly Kaoru's posture straightened at the statement, her cheeks blushing.

"Okita." Once more Saitou raised a flag for the young man and the gathered 
crowed 
registered Shishio's interference.

"This wasn't a full point!"

Saitou waved his hand negatively "It was a point, I decided, there is no way to 
discuss 
this."

Teeth-grinding Shishio prepared the next attack, tightening his grip on the 
shinai.

Once more Shishio and Okita passed each other, Okita hold his arm after the 
movement and 
Saitou raised his voice
"Invalid."

"WHAT?"
Shishio stepped closer to Saitou

"This was no admissible move and when you keep going like this, you'll be 
disqualified."

Visibly angry Saitou moved back to his position, preparing his next attack. 
Exited Kenshin
leaned forward.
"He has an interesting manner to perform the moves, he is very quick."

Asiyah narrowed her eyes as she watched the next passing.

"SHISHIO!" Saitou raised the flag, Shishio had won the first round.

"I doubt that Okita can win this."

Kaoru had to agree with Kenshin's sister
"Yes, Okita is very good, but obviously he is too focused on a few moves."

Surprised Kenshin acknowledged Kaoru's analysis
"You're right. How could you recognise this with just this few movements?"

"Her father runs a dojo, already forgot?" Misao reminded.

"SHISHIO!"

"Gods, he is really going to win this competition." Tokio was still struggling 
with her 
feeling of embarrassment as she had recognised the judge, but was now following 
the 
competition closely.

"Is something wrong, Tokio?" Something WAS definitely wrong with her, Megumi 
could clearly
feel her discomfort and the hastily denying of her friend only assured her that 
her 
assumption was correct.

"No, Megumi, nothing."

Misao burst out in laughter what earned her a deadly glare from her sister.

"SHISHIO!"

"Okita isn't able to land one blow." As always Aoshi had ignored the brawling 
around him 
and had followed the fights attentively.

Nodding her approval Kaoru shared her observation
"He can't even evade the attacks. This Shishio is incredible good."

"I wonder why I haven't seen him before. I thought I knew every good man in 
Kendo."
Kenshin couldn't believe that he missed this talent!

"Obviously you are wrong." Knowing how hard this must be for her brother, Asiyah 
squeezed 
his shoulder.

"SHISHIO!"

"WOW! This Okita wasn't able to land one hit in the second round!" Impressed 
Misao leaned 
back only to bump into Tokio who banged her head against her sisters back.

"What a horrible day! The second bet I lost today."

"Tokio, you really should bet less." Disapproved Tomoe took her soft drink and 
sipped. 

"THE WINNER OF THIS SECTION IS MAKOTO SHISHIO!" Saitou announced just in this 
moment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be continued...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Auhor's notes:

[1]
I changed the rules for Kendo-competitions a little bit, please bare with me...
I didn't want to go in detail, I thought this might be boring... Furthermore 
this is boring to hell. =^^=


started on May 9th 2002
finished on May 20th 2002
first posted on May 27th 2002

Ja ne,

Mara