Love Thy Neighbour

Author\'s Note: I\'ll start off by assuring everyone (as well as the esteemed Nobuhiro Watsuki) that I own neither Rurouni Kenshin nor the characters within the series. The only thing I do own is my original character - Sayuki - but the other created people belong to my good friends Tara (that\'s Yakane) and Jaki (that would be Juri). Enjoy - and for those fans of Hiko, please don\'t hurt me too badly in my particular portrayal of him, I love him to bits myself ya know! ^_^

Prologue

The large, friendly-looking abode known far and wide as the Kamiya Dojo was seemingly deserted as a young dark-haired woman, dressed rather oddly as a samurai would be, made her weary way up the path to the gate. She knocked a few times, and then called out tentatively, \"Hello? Anyone home there?\"
\"Just a second,\" a boy\'s voice replied. A minute or two later, the gate was opened, and standing there in the entrance-way was a boy of perhaps twelve or so, with short spiky dark hair and sparkling golden-brown eyes that held more than a hint of mischief, perhaps pride too.
\"Yahiko, isn\'t it?\" the young woman smiled. \"You\'re a student of Kaoru\'s. She\'s told me a lot about you in her letters to me.\"
Yahiko nodded. \"Yeah, that\'s me.\" He looked at her quizzically. \"But if you don\'t mind me asking, who\'re you?\"
The girl laughed merrily. \"Oh, that\'s rude of me, isn\'t it, not introducing myself! My name\'s Sayuki Miyamoto - I\'m an old friend of Kenshin and Kaoru.\"
\"Oh okay, I get it.\" Then Yahiko looked her up and down, taking in her strange manner of dress. \"How come you\'re dressed like me and Kenshin, and not like Kaoru? You\'re a girl - I thought all girls had to wear kimonos and stuff, but you\'re not.\"
\"Why do you think?\" Sayuki grinned. \"I\'m a samurai, just like Kenshin and yourself.\" She motioned to the twin sheathed katanas hanging at her right hip. \"See? And besides, I\'m more comfortable in these clothes than in a kimono.\"
\"But I thought girls couldn\'t become samurai.\"
Sayuki shrugged. \"I come from a long line of noble-blooded samurai, and after my father and elder brother died in the Revolution twelve years ago, I wasn\'t given too much of a choice about the matter. So I underwent secret training like they did, as my family tradition decreed that the head of the family must be a full-fledged samurai warrior.\"
Yahiko looked impressed. \"Wow, really? That\'s cool - I mean, I\'m sorry about your dad and your brother, too.\"
She laughed again. \"It\'s all right. I live each day knowing they\'re watching over me and are proud of who I\'ve become.\" Sayuki\'s lovely face took on a resigned expression. \"But then there\'s my younger sister, you see...\" Her eyes narrowed slightly just then. \"And that sounds like her now, making her snail\'s-pace way up here to join me. Excuse me for a minute, would you Yahiko?\"
The female samurai turned and swiftly went back the way she came; soon reappearing with another young woman in tow. Even at the tender age of twelve, Yahiko couldn\'t help but be impressed at how pretty they both were, even if their beauty showed through differently in each sister - where Sayuki was pretty in a hyper, feisty way, the other girl\'s beauty was more seductive and self-assured. A giggle escaped his mouth as he saw how Sayuki was nearly dragging her sister along, with an impatient look on her face as she practically power-walked back up to the dojo despite the other girl\'s protests of, \"But Sayuki, there\'s this really cute guy back there who -\"
\"No!\" was the firm reply.
Finally they both got to the dojo entrance where Yahiko waited open-mouthed, and at first the younger sister just stood there with a sulky look on her gorgeous face as she glared resentfully at her older sibling. \"Don\'t look at me like that,\" Sayuki told her. \"I\'ve got better things to do than dash about after you while you\'re out trouser-chasing, Yakane Miyamoto - and visiting Kenshin is one of them.\"
\"Oh wow, you\'re from the Miyamoto clan too?\" Yahiko looked reaimprimpressed. \"That means...\"
\"That we\'re descended from the legendary Musashi Miyamoto himself, yes,\" Sayuki nodded proudly. She nudged her sister in her side a touch irritably. \"Well go on, say hi to Yahiko - he\'s one of Kaoru\'s students, remember? You\'ve met her before.\"
\"Hey, don\'t shove me like that!\" Yakane snapped. She quickly calmedselfself and held out her hand to Yahiko. \"I\'m Yakane Miyamoto - as my tyrant of a sister has already said. You\'re Ya Myo Myojin, right? I\'ve heard lots about you.\"
\"Thanks,\" the boy grinned. \"So I\'m guessing you wanna see Kaoru, huh? She\'s just out buying some tofu at the market now, but she should be back pretty soon. You want to come in and wait?\"
The girls nodded, and were led inside to the neatly set-out dojo grounds. \"Wow, you have a really pretty place here,\" Yakane said admiringly. Her lovely dark eyes brightened momentarily. \"Hey Yahiko, you haven\'t got an older brother living here with you, have you?\"
Sayuki gave her a hard look. \"Don\'t,\" was all she said.
\"Fine,\" Yakane muttered rebelliously. \"You\'re such a nun when it comes to men - I don\'t see why I should be.\"
\"I\'m a samurai, that\'s why!\" her elder sister fired back. \"It\'s important for me to try to hold up the family reputation as that of a noble and distinguished one, but that doesn\'t mean you can\'t do the same! You\'re a Miyamoto too, you know!\"
Luckily Yahiko was somewhat ahead of them at this point, and hadn\'t heard the heated exchange between the two; so the girls\' arguing went pretty much unnoticed until they got into the dojo. \"Kenshin!\" Sayuki exclaimed happily, going over at once to the red-headed man known formerly as Battousai the Manslayer.
\"Why, it\'s Miss Sayuki,\" Kenshin smiled. \"It\'s been too long, that it has. How have you been?\"
\"Well enough, and you?\"
\"Oh, I\'ve been doing this and that,\" Kenshin said airily. \"Yahiko, has Kaoru come back yet from shopping?\"
\"Nope,\" Yahiko shook his dark head. \"When did you get back? Did you come in the back way?\"
\"I did,\" Kenshin chuckled. \"I thought I\'d surprise you for once.\" He looked at Sayuki. \"So how did Thailand treat you?\" he enquired. \"I thought you loved the country so much you\'d end up growing old and living out your days there instead, that I did.\"
Sayuki smiled warmly. \"I\'ve missed your manner of speech, Kenshin.\" The samurai girl shrugged briefly. \"As a matter of fact, I thought it would make a nice change of pace coming back home for once - and perhaps settle Yakane and I into an environment where I could knock her behaviour into shape a bit. She\'s been allowed to chase after every man that catches her eye for far too long now; I was hoping that if she stayed here with you and started training under you and Kaoru, that she might learn to behave herself one day.\" This earned her a hot glare from Yakane, of course, but Sayuki ignored it.
\"That\'s a very good idea, that it is,\" Kenshin agreed. \"I\'ll be sure to ask Miss Kaoru once she returns.\" He smiled at Yakane. \"And how have you been, Miss Yakane?\"
Yakane stopped looking moody at once - she\'d always had a bit of a soft spot for Kenshin, and never failed to have a smile just for him. \"Not too bad at all,\" she replied somewhat more cheerfully. \"I was living in Bangkok making a living as a geisha until Sayuki up and decided to come back here to Japan.\"
\"Practly hly had to pry your hands away from the teahouse doors,\" Sayuki commented dryly. \"You were too fond of that place for my liking - or maybe of the clients you slept with on a weekly basis.\"
\"Entertained,\" Yakane said with a pained look. \"The right word is entertained, Sayuki. Geishas aren\'t the same as whores, and you know it.\"
\"Whatever,\" Sayuki shrugged. \"Anyone with a brain knows what geishas really do, and that kind of thing was right up your alley anyway.\"
There was the sound of Yakane\'s foot being stomped angrily, but she said nothing in reply. Sayuki\'s expression was just this side of triumphant smugness as she sat cross-legged on the floor with Kenshin, to which those present tactfully decided to let pass.