Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Summary: Two strangers are knocked out when a carriage loses control. They work together to uncover their pasts and regain their memories. But as one of them is eager to learn of her past, full of innocence, the other begins to dread what he will find, as his clues point in a dark direction.

Chapter 1: Amnesia

The sound of rustling fabric brought her back to her senses. She was slowly able to hear the sounds of birds chirping, and footsteps coming down the hall. Slowly, she began to open her eyes and shut them again due to the sudden bright light. Again, she tried to open her eyes and allowed them to slowly adjust to the bright room. It was unfamiliar to her, and as she looked around, she found that she was lying on an unknown futon, dressed in a grey yukata.

The raven-haired girl glanced around the strange room and noted that it was rather bare. The sunlight was coming in through a crack in the shoji in the corner of the room. A tray was set on the other side of the room with tea and medicinal herbs. Turning back to herself, she realized that there were bandages on her arms. She moved the blanket covering her body and saw bandages on her legs as well. There were not many of them, so she assumed that she must not have been badly injured. But her head ached, and she felt fuzzy. She was about to get up when the shoji was suddenly opened. A young woman came hurrying in. "Oh, you're awake!"

The girl stared at her. "E-excuse me, where am I?"

The woman picked up the try on the floor and knelt down next to the girl. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Takani Megumi, and I have been entrusted to your care. And you are?"

"Um…I…I don't know," the girl stammered. Her face was suddenly crestfallen as she realized that she could not remember her name…or anything else.

"You don't know?" Megumi asked surprised. "You must have taken a nasty blow to the head then. It should only be temporary amnesia. Here, drink this." Megumi held a cup of tea up to the girl, who looked hesitant. "It's a medicinal brew, and as your doctor, I suggest you drink it."

The girl nodded silently and took the cup shakily. "I-I'm sorry. This is just all so sudden."

"It's quite alright. I'm sure you will be feeling a little unsteady, especially in an unfamiliar place."

"Megumi, where am I exactly?"

"You're in a clinic in Kyoto. It is run by Dr. Gensai and myself. We found you a few days ago when some strangers brought you in. Apparently, a carriage went out of control and hit you and few other passersby. A few others were injured, but only you and another boy are in this state."

"There's someone else like me?" she asked.

Megumi nodded. "Hai, he's in the other room. He only just awoke a few hours ago, but so far he can't remember anything either. All he could remember was his first name."

"Well, that's better than me," the girl muttered.

"Actually, we do have an idea of what you're name could be," Megumi responded. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a locket. "You had this with you. It has a name on it, so I'm assuming that it's yours." The doctor dropped the locket into the girl's outstretched hands. "Now, I'm going to just check on the other patient, but please let me know if you need anything." The doctor stood up and walked over to the shoji, pausing at the door. "And don't get up. You need to get rest." With that, she disappeared out of the room. The girl stared after her before turning her attention back to the locket in her hands. She looked down at her and brushed her fingers on the delicate letters, smiling.

"Kaoru," she whispered.

"Well, good afternoon, Ken-san," Megumi said, flashing a brilliant smile. She walked gracefully into the room towards her patient. Her smile turned into a frown as she got a good look at him. He was sitting against the wall away from the futon, which he had folded up neatly in the center of the room. "You really should be lying down, you know."

"This is more comfortable," he replied quietly.

The doctor rolled her eyes. "I doubt it," she returned. "Now, I brought you some tea which should help with the headache." She held out the cup, but he didn't move. Inwardly, she groaned, why do I have such stubborn patients? "I am a doctor and am ordering you to drink this," she said more forcefully.

The patient raised his head slightly, so that she could see his eyes glowing through his bangs. He slowly moved his arms and took the cup from her. Sighing, he took a sip.

"Good. See, you just need to accept my tender loving care, Ken-san," she cooed.

"Kenshin," he muttered. The flirtatious doctor ignored him and reached for the bandages that she brought with her.

"Now, then," she began. "Let's check out that cut on your back. I want to be sure it isn't getting infected. And the bandage needs to be changed." Kenshin simply took another sip of the tea as if she hadn't said anything. Megumi looked at him and repeated with irritation, "Ken-san, do you want to make this difficult?"

"Fine." He moved away from the wall and turned around so that she could see his back. She looked curiously at his flame red hair that was tied in a high ponytail. What an unusual color, she thought, as she moved it out of the way and removed the top portion of his yukata. She inspected the cut on his back and smiled.

"Well, Ken-san, you will be happy to hear that it is healing beautifully. Your body must heal very quickly." She began putting on fresh bandages. As she wound them around the wound, she took time to observe the rest of his back. She was surprised at how much muscle Kenshin had, despite his lean body. There was not an ounce of fat on his form, but he could not really be called scrawny either. But what really surprised her were all of the scars that appeared on his delicate frame. Most of them looked like sword wounds. She found it shocking that someone so young, presumably 18, could have so many scars. She pushed away her curiosity and hurriedly finished the bandaging. "All finished."

"Thank you," he murmured in reply. He turned around and propped his body up against the wall again. He reached over to his left side in an effort to grab something but found only air. Megumi looked at him strangely.

"Is something wrong?"

"I…I don't know," he said. "I feel like I'm missing something." He lifted his eyes up from beneath his red bangs, and Megumi was able to fully see his eyes for the first time. She was taken aback by their bizarre color. They were gold.

"Do you know what you are missing?" Megumi asked after getting over the shock of his unusual eyes.

He shook his head. "Iie."

"Well," she replied, standing up. "I will check in town, but the people who brought you in didn't mention anything that you had with you. Now get some rest. I will let you know when dinner is ready. Maybe then you can meet our other guest. I think you two will get along."

Kenshin stared after her. Another guest?

A/N: This is my first long story, and I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this. Your reviews are very appreciated and please give me some ideas! Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it.

Also, note that although this is going to be set in Meiji Japan for convenience sake, the characters are still slightly AU. For example, they are in Kyoto, rather than Tokyo (you will find out why later). The character personalities will be pretty much the same, but their circumstances may be slightly different (not much though). I will make sure it's clear.