DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony

Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money

out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing

stories to make others happy... so...

This is my journey, journey through life.

With every twist and turn I've laughed and cried

As the road unwinds

This is my journey, and I've learned to fight.

To make me strong enough, to lift me up

To bring my dreams alive...

~ The Journey; 911

Chronicles of a Rurouni

Part One: Winter's Rendevous

He stopped abruptly in his tracks, cocking his ears for the shrill

whistling sound disturbing the peace of this beautiful, misty morning. It

soon disappeared into something down the road which seemed tolerable enough

for the young man, so he left it how it was and went on his way.

*This is so tiring...* He decided before finally slumping down onto

a huge tree beside the deserted back alleys of town, checking his belongings

for anything edible or thirst-quenching. Having found none, he simply sighed

in resignation and rested his arms behind his back as he faced the lonely,

thick mist with wide, deep eyes.

He wasn't surveying the land, or doing anything in particular. How

was it possible, anyway, in the solidness of the fog? A mere rest, he

thought to himself. A mere indulgence one of superior sword skills could

only allow oneself once in a long while.

And he laughed at the ironic way he portrayed himself. One of

superior sword skills? Oh how anyone would laugh at him if he said it. True,

perhaps only few know of the truth behind the matter, but Soujirou himself

would not stop anyone from laughing at him for being silly. For he was.

How could he possibly be anyone who knew how to handle a sword, when

he didn't have a sword by him? How pointless it was to try to even convince

anyone otherwise... Soujirou gave himself another one of the seasoned smiles

used for hiding true emotions, then dropped it as a horse carriage could be

heard approaching.

"Yahiko! Yahiko you bum! Get off the roof sun-tanning yourself this

very instance!"

The one called Yahiko turned his head from his lying position on the

roof to stare into the face of his very infuriated Master. He sat up lazily,

running his hand through the custom shaped black spikey hair he always had

been proud of possessing.

"What is it?" He could barely mumble.

"WHAT IS IT?!?!" The female voice streaked out again. The next

moment, while Yahiko took his time trying to open his eyes in the rising

sun, a shinai flew through the air to land point blank on Yahiko's forehead.

Well, that forced his eyes wide open, anyway.

"It's the 21st. Just in case you forgot..."

This one had a very ambiguous sound to it.

"Yes. I did forget." Yahiko took the shinai and leapt off the roof,

landing spectacularly on his Master. "Thanks for reminding..." He stopped,

scratched his head and stood up, followed abruptly by his very crazed

looking master, foaming at the mouth in absolute anger. "... for

reminding..." He stopped again, face contorted with perplexity.

In the distance, the dojo doors could be heard sliding open, with a

click which presumably denoted the limits of how much the wood could reach.

A familiar voice sounded out.

"Ah! Tsubame-dono!"

In the next instance, Yahiko was at the door, panting and wheezing

from covering too great a distance with too little time. Tsubame looked on

with no amusement or anger, merely embarassment, as she always felt when

Yahiko was around. She shifted her weight around endlessly and waited for

someone else to break the ice.

"Go... Gomen!" Yahiko immediately started. "I... totally, by

golly... FORGOT about promising to help out at the restaurant today!"

Tsubame blushed a deeper flush of red as Kenshin went on to snapping

the dirt out of the white clothes, which were, by the way, what he ever

seems to be washing anyway.

"No... it's... all right actually..."

Kaoru came from behind and interrupted abruptly. "No it's not all

right! Students of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu never forgets what promises

they've bore! Get out! NOW!!!!" She yelled despite herself.

Her tone was harsh... yet soft... and, surprisingly enough to

Yahiko, imploring... with some speckles of embarassment perhaps. He turned

to the familiar redhead of the house to extract perhaps a confirmation of

what was happening, but if Kenshin had heard the tone of Kaoru's voice, he

did a very good job in hiding the surprise.

"Listen to your Master, Yahiko." Kenshin only smiled at him and

snapped out some more dirt from the new batch of white clothes he was

dipping into the bucket. These words worked magically, and Yahiko was on his

way immediately with a cheery 'YES SIR!'. There was no hiding that Kenshin

was Yahiko's goal in life. He was everything Yahiko could ever hope to want

to be, for he was STRONG... although the meaning of 'strong' could mean so

many different things. He was just... unique, different in so many ways.

Kenshin was his role-model and a replacement of paternal love Yahiko himself

never received in full. So naturally, Yahiko did everything Kenshin

requested of with utmost pleasure or just feeling happy that he could please

this one he so much respected.

And the one called Kenshin continued washing and snapping the dirt

out of the poor clothes as Yahiko and Tsubame disappeared down the misty

road. Kaoru sighed in relief, her lucious black hair whipping about in the

slight breeze, tied up in a high ponytail behind her. Her dancing eyes

turned to the only other person in the courtyards with a slight glimmer of

hope in it.

*She's looking surprisingly fresh for someone who usually gets up so

late...* Kenshin mused to himself, and waited patiently for her to state her

reason, or point, or whatever it was that made her get up so early.

"Err... Kenshin..." She started, unsure of what do say... or how to

continue. Kenshin flipped a piece of cloth about in front of him and peeked

over it cautiously.

"Kaoru-dono... ?"

"I was just wondering if you'd like to... erm... well..." Kaoru gave

herself a mental slap. HARD, on the face. She'd been planning this for so

long, how could she stumble at the last minute now? GO ON, KAORU YOU FOOLISH

FEMALE! She chided herself. GO ON!

She had a huge intake of air.

She couldn't continue. She would... later, but not now. Not when she

was so... oh never mind...

However, it wouldn't entirely be too good to end the conversation

just there, so...

"Iwasjustwonderingwhetheryou'dliketoteachmehowtocooksomethingreally-

niceandnottoodisgustingforachange..."

Kenshin continued snapping the dirt out of the clothes, brows

creased in slight amusement. "Kaoru-dono?" He gently inquired again,

concerned. Ah, how that voice, how that snapping-the-dirt-out-of-the-clothes

action always made poor Kaoru want to swoon... and she would too, if she

didn't flee from the courtyards soon enough...

Soujirou winced. He could feel his expressions going dead-pan,

something he had been devoid of for ten years and recently regained. Even he

himself admitted he was not too used to this facade, however more normal it

made him...

He could remember an incident like this too, many many days ago,

when life had been but a passing phase of living strongly. There he was,

hidden in the shadows of the shady trees, and there it was, beating

furiously down the tracks of a lonely alley, creating dust storms when it

passed through. In it held an important man. In him held an important

message to be relayed to one who could twist the fates decided for Japan

then...

... and Soujirou had his orders to relinquish those thoughts in

Okubo Toshimichi.

Every single muscle in Soujirou tensed up again to be going through

something of such similar nature. He could hear the horses heavy gallops

fast approaching, and every bit of him felt tempted enough to chase after

the carriage with the super-human speed he possessed.

Yet as he stood up, he hesitated. What was his mission this time?

No. He had no mission this time. He had no message to relay to the person in

the carriage now, so why was he...

He sat down abruptly, disturbing the peaceful leaves which had long

fallen from their mother branches. This was a trick he had learnt through

all these time spent wandering around the country aimlessly, seeking to help

and to be helped.

Placing two fingers from each hand on each temple, like in deep

concentration, Soujirou frowned and held his breath for three seconds,

before letting go abruptly and regaining his smile.

*That's better.* He gave himself a mental jerk and looked at the

boiling orange ball rising from the bluish horizon, creating a beautiful

contrast in accordance to the misty dark alleys.

Somewhere in the back of his head, yes, somewhere in the back of his

stomach as well, cries of 'HELP! FOOD! NOW!' could be heard. The grumbling

of his unhappy stomach, Soujirou was sure, could be heard rebounding through

infinite echoes all across the lonely walls of...

*What's the name of this place again?* Soujirou scratched his head.

He had developed an incredibly lackadaisical attitude with an extremely

failing memory while he roamed. He could remember, nearly ten steps back

from where he was he had asked as to which place he currently borrowed

dwelling on, and trust him to forget ten steps later...

*It doesn't matter...* He lifted himself off and continued on his

journey, this time for food, amongst the streets of a familiar, yet not so,

city.

~It doesn't matter...~

"Hmmm... Akabeko restaurant..."

Soujirou looked up in the skies. He had been looking for two hours,

and by now the sun had risen to a quite considerable height in the skies,

while he continued his food quest.

Nothing he'd seen on the way quite impressed him enough. Either they

didn't look like restaurants, so much so that he missed them completely, or

they simply didn't look hygienic enough for a wanderer like himself could

survive on.

Not that it all mattered anyway. Soujirou had been living from hand

to foot for quite some time now, and he really needed some comfort, even if

it meant losing the rest of his days to extinct privilege...

He stepped cautiously into the noisy restaurant, absorbing the place

with as much details as he could. There were many chamber like compartments,

and almost every single one were filled with happy customers feasting away.

The air of slight ease was present all over. Every group of people were

separated into different bunks so that they could enjoy even some slight

privacy in a public place... an ingenius idea indeed, something seldom seen,

Soujirou put two fingers on his chin.

"Good morning and welcome!"

A voice so cheery and out of this world shocked him right to the

ribs as a waitress jumped out of seemingly nowhere to usher him into the

restaurant into an empty bunk.

"Would you kindly sit down, sir? What would you like, sir? How about

more tea, sir? Is it okay if I..."

Bombarded by questions, Soujirou simply stared helplessly at the

over-friendly waitress with a look which denoted "I'm-sorry-but-could-you-

repeat-that-again?"

She seemed to have caught the clue, and was about to restart her

flurry speech when someone called her name down the hall.

"Excuse me, I'll send someone back." She sweetly smiled and rushed

off to answer the concerned customer's voice. The entire place was bustling

with activity, something Soujirou would have liked to avoid if otherwise.

He sighed and checked the money he had carefully counted before stepping in.

Would it be enough? Oh he wished he'd just chose something simple, something

by the side inns instead...

He was so waist deep engrossed in his personal thoughts that he

didn't even feel or see the shadow of another dropping by close beside him.

"Not enough spare change?" A youthful voice knocked him out of his

ponderation. Embarassed, he turned his head to the new entrance.

A young boy, near 10 to 12 possibly. Soujirou sighed in what,

relief? Discomfort? He surveyed the boy for a split second, before choosing

a greeting. "Hello, little kid... I was just..."

A look of an absolutely peeved youngster flashed across the young

waiter's expressions as he reached behind to grab something. "Don't call me

little kid!" He barely managed to stifle his anger. "'Coz I could beat you

to pulp anytime I wanted for insulting me like that!" He lifted a little of

his shinai kept protectively behind him to show Soujirou of the fate he

would have received if he didn't keep his words polite and un-demoralizing.

"I... Iie!" Soujirou quickly held up both his hands to protest even

in the most feeble way that he was insulting the little boy... "I was... I

meant..."

He thought he heard the young boy growling, and decided it was time

to hit the gears...

Yahiko growled at this young... man? woman? in front of him. No one

calls him 'little kid', especially not after what he did to Hennya at Aoiya.

He wouldn't allow that even if nothing happened at Aoiya anyway. He had a

pride, and he was keeping it. This young... man, yes, man, Yahiko decided,

was nothing but another weakling beggar (judging from the way his clothes

were so...) trying to get a free meal on Tae-san's account.

Not that it was his business whether Tae wanted to treat every poor

looking soul who comes in and goes, but they were having too many of these

free-loaders lately, especially with the incoming winter. With that in mind,

Yahiko kept a clear lookout for anyone even slightly resembling a beggar,

and did his best to subtly chase them out of the restaurant.

Although in a way, Yahiko's "subtly" was...

"I will take my leave now, kodomo-kun..." Soujirou barely managed.

He hated trouble, he didn't want any, not anymore. And he had thought of

this journey as a ten year challenge issued from someone who obviously knew

the delights and tortures of travelling inside out... what great dramatic

irony. He nervously mused.

"Yeh! If that's the case! HIT IT!" Yahiko practically yelled, which

was absolutely necessary anyway, considering the amount of noise everybody

in the restaurant was collectively making.

Without a word, Soujirou stumbled out as fast as he could... well,

no, not really AS FAST AS HE COULD (for we all know how fast that would be),

just... as fast as he thought he should. Yep. That's right. He could feel

the young boy's eyes watching him leave the restaurant in the huff, and was

glad to be able to slam the door shut as he leaned slightly onto it.

Letting out a sigh of relief while looking into the skies, he smiled

again, at how many interesting experiences of such he could discuss with

Himura-san in ten years.

Provided he even lasted that long.

Feeling free of obligations, as he always did when he travelled,

Soujirou gathered up his belongings which had fallen to the ground in his

rush and gently strode along, basking in the relaxed glory of morning

sunshine.

*Hm. Coward.* Yahiko inwardly sneered as the flustered man stumbled

clumsily out of the restaurant and slammed the door shut. Although as much

as he would like to denounce this man again, he couldn't help but feel a

little similarity bursting from this man's unique aura. He was polite, and

calm, and for once Yahiko didn't get some response in his threatening to

fight every guy off the street mode lines.

This man in blue... very tattered blue, was nervous in a strong sort

of way, and deliberately obliging in a respectful manner of etiquette. He

had slightly long hair... twinkling eyes that were too old to fit that

youthful looking face. And even as he was without a sword, he was just

like...

... Kenshin...

Instantly Yahiko shook his head to brush off the thought. He could

not deny that this man in blue had too much similarities with his greatly

respected Kenshin, but he was only alike with the pure Rurouni in Kenshin.

No, the true Kenshin, which Yahiko had grown to love and understand, was far

far more deep and wholesome than what this young man in blue could offer to

him by aura and by charm.

Yet Yahiko wondered how much more about this young man he could pry

about if he was to communicate more. Too bad... he'd blown the chance

already.

He sighed and picked up the huge basket he had been assigned to for

buying some restaurant needs.

Kaoru laughed at the monkey displaying his acrobatic skills in front

of the impromptu crowd. At first she had intended to get a whiff of fresh

air, and then she had discovered she really needed to get something for that

night's dinner, so she stayed out a little longer, knowing the dojo was safe

in the hands of the family's beloved Rurouni, to enjoy the open air and

people's warmth as well as the laughy crowd gathered at the stand now...

*At least I won't look like a liar when I get back.* She smiled to

herself, then spontaneously broke into huge laughter when the monkey did

more absurd stunts at it's master's bidding.

The laughter drew the young wanderer near as he curiously peeked

over the shoulders of a few shorter ladies. He smiled as he saw what it was.

A monkey performance.

*Well, how many of those have I seen thus far?* He began counting.

Ah, life was so relaxing like that, counting things of the most

insignificant orders and busying himself in the most ridiculous affairs. Yet

he could not deny that he liked it, very very much indeed, for the skies

were his compass and the lands were his home, while the seas were his

companions and the birds were... never mind.

He turned to leave, when something caught his eye.

Yahiko dragged the now heavily imbued (wrong usage, but I don't

really care) basket behind him, panting in his step. Twacking the drops of

sweat off his brow, he checked the shopping list again for any missing items

before finally feeling satisfied with what he had.

He stopped at an entire crowd of laughing people and wondered

briefly what was going on behind the curtain of people. Him, being pretty

much shorter than most of the people there, could not catch a glimpse of

what was going on no matter how much he poked. Finally, deciding he had had

enough, he started dragging the basket all the way back.

He watched carefully, not wanting to misunderstand or anything, or

cause a great big commotion so that too much attention would be attracted.

Yes. It was confirmed. That man was stealing from an unknowing young lady

enjoying herself watching the show. Soujirou's eyes narrowed. How dare he.

It was now the sacred Meiji Era, how dare he pick on other's

disadvantageous...

A few moments later, the man had gotten the money pouch that had

been hanging from the young lady's obi by the side. Realizing that the young

lady would not notice this for a long time, Soujirou looked around for

anything that could be used, anything at all, as a weapon against that

unlawful man. Yes... that was the young gentleman from the restaurant wasn't

it? His shinai would do good... except that he was like 50 metres away from

the crowd already?

Soujirou could rectify that.

In about one second, he had swiftly reached the young boy's back and

gently eased the shinai out of its original lodging place, with inhuman

speed, no less, and returned to the crime scene where the criminal was just

about to make his getaway. With the split second this unlawful beast took to

turn his head to the direction he had chosen to get away with, Soujirou

thwacked him on his left shoulder, point blank, emitting a sickening,

cracking sound.

Gasps resounded throughout the entire onlooking crowd.

"Jeepers... NO!" Soujirou placed a hand on his forehead and started

to curse himself. He lifted the shinai up to investigate it, heaving only a

very tremendous sigh of relief when he confirmed no scratch on the shinai.

For if otherwise, he would not have dared faced the young waiter in the

restaurant ever again...

The thief was on the ground, eyeballs rolled and foaming at the

mouth. *Oops.* Soujirou thought, the moment he relaid his eyes on the man.

*I never thought a shinai could be of so much bodily harm...* He bent down

to the man and lifted the pouch easily from his boney fingers.

"I presume this is yours, Miss?" Soujirou held it out to an

astonished looking Kaoru.

"M... Mine?" Kaoru started, checking around for her money pouch,

which was indeed not anywhere on her at the moment. "MINE!" She yelled in

joy and almost snatched the pouch from Soujirou. "Thank you, very very

much!" She smiled, while the crowd simply gasped in awe.

"You're welcomed, but if there isn't... well I think I should take

my leave now." He smiled warmly and turned his back immediately. Another

thing he had learnt during his wandering days, was that one must always

leave before one could make any real acquaintance with anyone, for it would

be shearing to attempt going off afterwards.

Kaoru stared in amazement at the air surrounding the young... wait a

minute... oh yes, should be a boy. Yes, the air surrounding the young boy.

Clad in blue with a well-trained smile, the way he simply tore himself away

from simple acquaintance was uncannily alike to...

... Kenshin? Or that of every Rurouni in the land?

*And I thought I'd be able thank him properly... must be a rurouni

like Kenshin...* She smiled at the thought. ~Kenshin...~

That reminded her. She'd better get the stuff soon and return to

make sure he doesn't fall ill or anything washing the clothes out in the

open, since it was really getting very cold around...

As if to confirm, she shivered in the chilling breeze just arrived.

Sanosuke swore. It wasn't the first time he swore that day, and in

fact, he highly suspected there were more to come, once he found his

vocabulary.

He looked up to the skies and swore again when a breeze swept by.

"Ch, hadn't expected winter so soon this year." He grumbled, kicking away a

large pile of gathered leaves beneathe the cherry blossom trees. It was

getting cold. Too cold to walk about anymore. He couldn't understand this

sudden temperature change, but which direction the skies were going to

didn't concern him directly.

"Hmm, maybe if I go to the fox doctor's clinic I can find a cure for

weather's tempermental behavior."

Ah, the things people did to see someone they yearned to, the

excuses they came up with... so cute...

*Oh dear oh dear...* Soujirou winced scanning the streets with

flustered cheeks. *The boy's gone, and I am NOT going to step inside the

restaurant to create more trouble with and for the boy again...*

Gently, he knocked himself on the head with the shinai. The boy was

going to go KAPUT! when he realized his shinai was gone, and seeing the kind

of temper he had as a preview in the restaurant previously, returning it now

would be a definite NO-NO, as he was clear it would only create more havoc

than what he already did at the monkey performance stand just now.

*And to think I actually enjoy doing all this...* Soujirou grinned

weakly at himself, hand grabbing tightly onto his belongings hung over his

shoulder, the other one gently handling the shinai.

He stopped in his step, testing the winds for a while. It smelled

of winter, something he hadn't expected till quite late in the month. True,

he hadn't been really keeping tabs of the date, but still he did know the

seasons if anyone asked.

He stared at the abnormal skies, wondering. Something behind all

this sudden weather change? Highly unlikely, probably just a weather

spectre, or the clouds just forgot to set their alarms properly. Again, a

sigh of unconfirmed emotions escaped his lips.

*So. Where to now?* He took a quick glance around his surroundings.

Someway or another, in the process of wandering around aimlessly, he had

found out that lonely back alleys, or just about anywhere void of a lot of

people, were what Soujirou personally preferred.

Maybe he was just anti-social?

A piercing scream winged swiftly through the air, bursting

Soujirou's eardrums. This was followed up soon by yelps of "HELP! THIEF!"

In the next moment, Soujirou had traced the source of the sound and

promptly hit the spot. A woman was kneeling on the ground, crying, with a

child by her side. This child... this child was... bleeding! Profusely!

Soujirou did not have to wonder long to figure out what exactly was going

on. The alleged thieves, three of them, had a bundle in their arms,

presumably of the lady and her child's, as well as a bloodied katana...

All of Soujirou's belongings slipped from his shoulders in a fluid

movement, but he held fast to the shinai. It was not as if he had not seen

such bloodied and brutal scenes before, though... it was just that...

A child... innocent, and pure to the world. The future... and now he

lay mutilated in a sobbing mother's arms...

"YOU!" He looked up at the robbers with pure fury in his eyes,

lifting the shinai to be pointed at them as he spoke.

They merely laughed. "You dare challenge us, fool?" The one with a

scar across from the forehead to the lid of the eye mocked. "You don't know

what you're asking for..."

*Idiots. I didn't ask for a challenge.* Soujirou grimaced.

They arranged themselves to block of access to the lady and her

child hidden behind in the shadows of a dead-end path behind them. Soujirou

swung the shinai to his side and faced them, brows knitted in anger.

"Hand them over, and you won't get hurt." He lowered his voice

dangerously. The two followers cowered at his tone, but the leader smirked

again. Now his eyes were narrowed dangerously into slits, and he took one

step nearer the trio. "I repeat. Hand. Them. Over."

He was being ignored, and he was ready to destroy them for not doing

as he was told. If the child didn't get to a clinic soon... Soft laughter

from the leader slowly reverted to hysterical laughter. His steel blade

reflected beautifully in the morning sun, a sick irony, considering how much

blood were on the blade now. Blood of a child... of innocence...

"We are the three notorious warriors of Tokyo!" A sudden declaration

was made, shifting Soujirou's attention back to the leader. "NO ONE,

challenges us! Besides, we're not done with the lady and her child yet." He

shot his best glare at Soujirou, who merely shot one back and bested him.

"I don't care who you are, three nutritious warriors or not."

Soujirou calmly expressed what he thought of these three idiots in front of

him. "Because if you don't hand them over, I will personally make sure your

notorious reputation ends right here and NOW."

There were boiling emotions from the three of the addressed men.

Possibly, no one had ever said things like that to them and lived to tell

it, judging from the way their faces distorted in rage. Soujirou lapsed into

a guarding stance, knowing how low idiots like these would stoop to gain an

advantage...

True to his thoughts, the first one charged at him from his left

with a cry which probably translates to 'Curse your mother, your father and

all of your ancestors and oh by the way watch me kill you now!' As soon as

the wooden sword he had was brought down, Soujirou brought his own shinai up

and pushed him slightly backwards, watching him stumble, stunned. Then, in a

whiff of smoke, he vanished and reappeared behind the man, shinai already

deeply buried into the back of his neck.

This man gapped wildly, eyes bulging in disbelief before collapsing

into subconsciousness. *No time to even scream, but just as well... don't

want to attract too much attention...* Soujirou did not wait for the next

man to get over from his shock. Borrowing the wall beside him, he leapt off

it to arrive behind the man in yet another flash.

Unfortunately, the man had somehow anticipated this move and now was

wildly thrashing his weapon backwards. After his fling however, Soujirou saw

that he was completely open to any attacks, and promptly stuffed the top end

of the shinai into his stomach, rendering the poor man unconcious as well.

Instincts hit him as he swiftly ducked, just in time to avoid the

blade of a real sword aimed accurately for his head. The leader withdrew his

attack with a low grunt of displeasure and prepared again.

Soujirou leapt two steps backwards, shinai in hand.

"Will you release them to me now?"

The leader just kept glaring at him. "You're fast, kid." Soujirou

could spot the tremor in his voice. Good, he needed the leader to feel as

frightened as he could. "Fast..." he trailed, then regained composure. "...

but I'm faster! You watch out! YAAAAAAA -- !"

His blade gleamed, but never touched the target.

"What the..."

Before he could finish his sentence, his sword was thwacked out of

grasp and the hilt of the young man in blue's shinai caught him straight on

the forehead...

Soujirou got up, weary from the fight. It had been pretty easy

though, he admitted. He examined the three unconcious bodies in front of him

and then trottered quickly over to the young lady.

"Are you all right?" His eyes gleamed of concern. "Can I help, in

any way at all?"

The lady looked up with pleading eyes. "Thank you..." She barely

managed to mutter. "... there's a clinic around here..." She glanced briefly

around in a fluster, with crying eyes. The child stirred in her arms as

Soujirou signalled for him to be handed over.

"There there... you'll be all right..." Soujirou's soothing voice

protruded through the thick, stiff morning air. He saw the lady pick up his

travel belongings for him as she picked up her own bundle and smiled. She

was a very responsible lady indeed, he thought, chucking the shinai to the

side of his hakama and shifting the boy slightly so he would be in a more

comfortable position.

To his surprise, the boy grabbed at his gi and wrenched open one

bloodied eyelid. "Okaasan..."

"She's all right." Soujirou assured, and as if on cue, the so said

Okaasan gently held onto one hand of the young boy. Soujirou looked at the

young boy, wondering what he had done to provoke the robbers into attacking,

presuming that these robbers hadn't just attacked on sight.

"They were doing something funny to Okaasan..." The boy choked, as

if he could read Soujirou's thoughts by merely looking into his questioning

eyes. Soujirou simply smiled for reassurance. "... I wanted to protect

her... thank you for helping..."

Soujirou looked forward into the path with a mother's son gathered

in his arms and the mother sobbing in touched concern beside him, as he

continued his journey in the direction of the clinic.

"You are a brave boy." He gently announced, and not for the first

time that day wondered if THIS, was his motive in journeying...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Tsubame tried to pacify the furious Yahiko, who was ruining

everything in the backyard of the restaurant. He had even tried to throw

some veggies and fruits down the water well as well, but was convinced

otherwise by the ever present Tae. So he contented himself with kicking,

screaming, punching and blaming instead.

"It's all your fault! How could this have happened!!?? NOOOOOOO!"

"Yahiko-kun..." Tsubame was weeping softly. She hated violence, and

she really didn't know what to do with the situation at hand. Yahiko had

always been well-behaved, no matter how rough, in front of her...

"Yahiko-kun..." Tae echoed, large sweatdrops dripping off her hair

and forehead. "... it wasn't anyone's fault that your shinai..."

"NONONONO!NO!O!O Don't talk about my shinai anymore! AREGGHGH!"

Tsubame grabbed onto Tae's apron and hid her face from the fuming

Yahiko, still busy punching the wall in anger. His shinai! Lost just like

that! How could he not have noticed! More importantly...

WHO DID IT?!?!

"Sanosuke?" Megumi stopped mid-way in bandaging the injured hand of

a patient. "What brings you here?" She half-mocked, noticing the usual

sturdy 19 year old shivering slightly as he stood out in the open courtyards

of the clinic.

"Ch, can't I come for no reason at all?" He stepped into the

slightly warmer clinic, as Megumi turned to finishing up the final wraps of

the patient's arm.

"No you can't. This is a clinic, not an inn or Kaoru's dojo." Megumi

grumbled, writing out the prescription for the patient in the room before

handing it over with a few instructions. The patient thanks her and made his

exit. By that time, Sano had seated himself comfortably in a small corner of

the room, trying to make himself as inconspicious as possible.

"I don't care. It's a public place, and that entitles me to free

coming and going." Sano bit furiously on his fishbone, hands wrapped around

himself.

Megumi frowned, then got up to exit the room. She came back soon

with a blanket which she flung violently towards Sano, covering him up

entirely in the meantime.

"Take this. I don't want anyone to freeze to death in the clinic...

not a very good reputation it'll make..." She mumbled the last few words,

herself taking her customary position in the doctor's chair. "Although I

must admit, I didn't expect winter so quickly in the year..."

"As if I did." Sano's muffled voice came from beneath the blanket,

where he struggled to get the corners of so as to control how he was to be

covered.

Megumi ignored him for a while, staring at the skies in concern. "I

wish I had a cure for that too..." She lamented. "... many people falling

ill over this weird weather pattern..."

"If you didn't like the trouble of all this curing, just say so."

"I didn't ask for an opinion, mind you!"

"Then what am I supposed to do? Sit here and watch you cut up

mysterious looking plants all day?"

"You could jolly well leave if it bothers you so much."

"Right, and..."

Their conversation (conversation? What conversation?) was stopped by

the sudden appearance of a weeping lady leaning on the door frame for

support, holding in her hands the small form of a young, injured child.

"Please help..."

Sano caught her before she fainted. Megumi moved in to lift the

child from the mother's embrace. After a quick check, she looked up at Sano

with alarmed eyes.

"Emergency!" She whispered and ran deeper into the room with the boy

in her arms. Sanosuke merely nodded and lifted up the mother from the floor

into the room as well. He'd been around long enough at the clinic to know

what exactly Megumi was going to do, and he knew she'd need all the help she

could.

Before he left however, he thought he could spot a pair of eyes

peering through the clinic front doors. He blinked, and the doors slid shut

silently.

Was he dreaming, or were those eyes... !!

His eyes were wide with disbelief. Him? Here? Oh no... then indeed,

this place...

He stole a quick glance around, then briskly geared up his engines.

Previously, he had wanted to personally bring the young kid into clinic, but

the mother wouldn't allow him to trouble himself over her family matters

anymore, so he had to relax his principles and return the previous

possession back to the original owner.

Still his heart wasn't at ease. He had to see the boy being

delivered straight into the doctor's arms before he could leave, so he

managed to slide a small slit from the clinic's front doors to peek, and

satisfied that it was enough, watched for a while.

Yet... yet...

Soujirou had to hasten, before Himura-san's companion recognized him

and gave chase. The boy was safely delivered, he knew that, and he really

had no face to see any of Himura-san's friends or Himura-san himself as of

yet.

Soon, he was a far way off from the clinic, back at some old mazey

alley with no one at all. Just as well... He breathed in a large amount of

the morning air. Soon it would be afternoon, then evening, then night...

then the next day would come... on and on and on, this would continue until

his own designated ten years was up. Yes... ten years...

*Well, I've done my second good deed of the day, yet I've still not

gotten anything to eat...*

Lamentations, lamentations... he gently rubbed on the shinai hung

absently around his left side. It was a silly place to chuck a shinai, since

that was where a sword should go, but that was the only place Soujirou could

think of...

He stopped dead in his tracks, realizing something. Quickly, he

dropped his travelling boxes and drew out the shinai with a glimmer of hope

in his eyes.

True enough, on a small part of the wooden blade, there were a few

carved words. Soujirou squinted.

*Kamiya Kasshin Ryu Dojo. Myoujin Yahiko.*

Soujirou smiled. At least that gave him something to work on. Maybe,

if he was quick enough, he could just leave it in the dojo without anyone

suspecting and the young waiter of the restaurant wouldn't jump at his skin

for taking off with his shinai without permission...

*Thank you for swordsmen who cherish their swords enough to leave

name and address...* Soujirou sighed.

After asking around for a few more minutes, he nodded and was on his

way.

Kenshin wearily tried to shield himself from the cold breeze,

although he merely ended up shivering more violently. He groaned and sat

himself on the ground. Now where did Kaoru-dono say she was going to? Oh

yes... she figured they had ran out of ingredients required for the cookery

lesson and was promptly on her way to shop, although what Kenshin couldn't

understand was why one needed to leave to do one's daily shopping with such

a red face...

Kenshin had no idea why whatsoever as to why she felt this way. And

as much as he wanted to know...

He noticed a piece of paper on the usually clean dojo courtyards (of

course, with Kenshin around, the dojo courtyards would always be clean...),

and moved to pick it up. There were some curious looking words on it,

nothing more, but they were looking *extremely* alien to the confused

bishounen staring at it, nonplussed. *Gaijin words* he decided before

tucking it away securely for future retrieval.

With a sigh, he turned to finish up the laundry when he launched

himself into a tremendous sneeze. Jeepers. It was really getting *that* cold

around here. Although he couldn't help highly suspecting that the sneeze

from beyond the dojo doors too were anything but an echo...

The dark figure stepped into view with the half-opened dojo doors

framing his shivering body. He rubbed at his nose, then looked up in mock

surprise at the redhead boring his violet eyes into him.

They locked sights for a good 3 seconds before Kenshin dropped

everything in his hands and gapped.

"Soujirou... ?"

Soujirou's mock surprise changed into one more real.

"Hi... Himura-san!"

END PART 1

ruroken@geocities.com

23/4/98

Revised 24/4/98

Re-revised 15/5/98