Disclaimer: I do not own Black Jack or Rurouni Kenshin

Note: I called Black Jack, Jack, just for the ease of writing, sorry to those who don't like it.

"Pinako?" the man ran from room to room, looking for his tiny companion, "PINAKO?!"

"Sir, are you alright?" an attendant asked when the black and white haired man ran into the corridor.

"The little girl who was with me, where did she go?" he asked breathing hard, panic starting to well up in his body at the disappearance of the cheerful child.

"I haven't seen her, you should ask the reception. They see everyone who enters and leaves this hotel," the man said before bowing and walking away. Jack ran down the stairs, taking them three at a time, his black coat billowing behind him as if it had a mind of its own. As soon as he reached the reception he quickly pulled Pinako's picture out of his wallet and showed it to the receptionist.

"Have you seen this girl?" he asked, gasping for breath. The man looked at the picture and frowned before nodding.

"She left 10 minutes ago saying something about buying groceries," Jack looked out of the window and saw that a blizzard was raging outside, his eyes widening in fear.

"Why didn't you stop her!?" he cried, slamming his hand down on the table.

"We tried Sir, but she slipped away when I took my eyes off her for a second," he bowed an apology. Jack snarled in anger and ran towards the exit only to have the receptionist stop him.

"Sir, it's too dangerous!" he yelled as he held back the struggling doctor.

"Pinako's out there!" he yelled, he knew that he was causing a scene but he didn't care.

"Please sir, calm down. We'll ring the rescue team, they have a dog that will be able to follow her scent," the man said, Jack stopped struggling and turned to look at him. The receptionist breathed a sigh of relief before letting go of the doctor and dialling the rescue team. He motioned for jack to take a seat which he did, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

Half an hour later he heard the door open and a gust of bitterly cold air washed over him. He looked up to see a gruff, heavy set man in a high Vis jacket.

"Do you have something with the girl's scent on?" he asked, Jack held out Pinako's apron which he had only just noticed was clasped tightly in his hand.

"With me," the man barked, he had already turned round and was walking back out of the door, Jack stared at him for a moment before following. The man led Jack through the snow storm to a jeep that, although newly parked, had half a foot of snow piled up against it. This only added to the worry the doctor was feeling for his little missing companion. The man opened the boot of the jeep and out jumped a massive dog, a St Bernard. The rescuer bent down and patted the dog on the head and connected its lead to the collar, he then motioned for Jack to hold out the apron so that the dog could recognise the scent.

As soon as the canine had sniffed the material it ran off in the other direction, its nose gliding across the surface of the snow, the two men running after it eager to find the lost child.

After what felt like a long time the dog froze, its tail between its legs.

"What's wrong? Has it lost the trail?" Jack asked fearing for Pinako.

"No, but we cannot go any further. That is the wolf territory. It's not safe for anyone," the man whispered afraid that the wolves would be able to hear him.

"Your girl must have been disorientated by the snow and walked here," the man said, Jack growled and headed into wolf territory before the man could stop him.

"PINAKO!" he yelled, hoping with all his heart that he would be able to hear her small voice over the noise of the storm. The cold crushed his lungs as he stumbled through the thick snow. He froze as a howl sounded nearby, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He started running towards the terrifying sound, his foot slipped and he rolled down the hill, his head hitting a tree on the way down.

"Pin…ako," he whispered, reaching out for the girl who was nowhere in sight, before losing consciousness.


She heard a howl and knew that one of the pack had found something. She walked up to the wild canine across the top of the snow and saw the wolf digging down into the snow.

Upon seeing a tiny hand sticking out of the snow the woman helped the wolf dig the child out and she lifted the unconscious girl into her arms. She wrapped the child inside her coat and tied her to her so that her body heat would warm the child whilst keeping her hands free.

A small growl left her throat as she turned to head towards the hotel, she knew she could leave the girl there and she would be well looked after. As she walked she came across another scent, one that was on the girl they had just found, though this time it was stronger. She noticed that the snow had been disturbed as if someone had fallen there; she walked up and held a tree in one hand as she looked over the edge of the hill. The landscape of the area she was in was as familiar to her as that back of her hand and she knew every dip and hump. She looked down to see a man dressed in black lying motionless, the snow next to the back of his head stained red.

She ran down the hill and knelt next to the man; she took a cloth from her pocket and held it to the back of his head to stop the already slowed bleeding. He groaned in pain and turned to look up at her, he froze at what he saw.

A young woman was leaning over him with fiery red hair dressed in furs and hides, her eyes held a feral wildness which made fear course through his body. All his instincts told him to run but his body refused to co-operate. She stared at him for a moment before grabbing his arm and, in a terrifying display of strength, pulled him up off the ground and onto her narrow shoulders.

The trip back to the hotel seemed shorter than when he had set out, and for a moment he had forgotten why he had been there in the first place.

"Pinako!" he murmured, jolting the woman carrying him as he moved to stand on his own.

"Pinako," the woman said softly, her blazing blue eyes turned to him, "is Pinako a small girl child?" she asked, her voice gruff with neglect. The doctor started and looked at her and nodded hesitantly.

"Don't worry about it," she said, she carried on walking, her firm grip pulling him along.

"What do you mean don't worry!" he yelled, she flinched as the volume of his voice hurt her ears.

"Trust me, the child is safe," her eyes telling him not to argue. He held his tongue and allowed her to half carry him back to the hotel.

When she neared the building's entrance the door opened to let them pass unhindered. Jack looked around as they passed the locals on their way to the doctor's room. He was shocked to see them bowing their heads as she passed by, none of them making eye contact. When they had gotten to the doctor's room, the door was already open and waiting for them, the attendant stood bent in a deep bow. After they had walked through the door the attendant closed it and she could hear his hurried footsteps as he rushed to put distance between himself and the wild child.

"Why were they all bowing to you?" Jack asked as she put him down onto the sofa.

"They are afraid and therefore, now, they respect me. It took a long time for them not to attack me, but now we have a mutual respect for each other. They don't attack me and I stay away from them as much as possible," she explained with a fanged grin. Jack nodded, understanding the peace of mutual respect. She found his medical bag and brought it to him and he patched himself up after he gave her a warning glare when she had tried to open his bag.

As she watched him wrap a bandage around his head she felt the child strapped to her chest under her clothes shift as she began to awaken. The woman chuckled before beginning to remove the clothes from the top half of her body.

"What are you doing!?" Jack cried, looking at her as if she had gone mad.

"Don't get your hopes up, boyo," she laughed as she brought down the final layer just as Pinako opened her eyes.

"Sensei?" she asked hesitantly, bleary eyed. Jack stared in shock at the girl, who was tied to the woman's chest, he was vaguely grateful that the woman was wearing a vest top. She reached up and held the tiny child with one hand whilst she untied her from her body and gave her to Jack who held her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him.

"Thank you," he breathed before tearing his eyes away from Pinako to look at the woman who was putting all her hides back on.

"I don't even know your name, mine is Black Jack and this girl is Pinako," he started. She walked to the door and looked back to him whilst opening it.

"Kiba," she whispered, before walking through it and out of sight.


An hour later Jack had a phone call from the reception.

"Forgive me for being rude but… has the woman you arrived with left yet?" Jack could hear the clear dislike in the man's voice when he spoke of Kiba.

"Yes, she left an hour ago," he replied finding it odd that the receptionist, a man who supposedly saw everyone who entered and left the establishment, would not notice her leave. Unless she hadn't left, the thought went through the two men's minds at the same time. The receptionist swore down the phone and hung up. It was only then that the doctor realised how tenuous the mutual respect was. If she made one wrong move then the people would mob her, he could hear a growing number of angry voices gathering outside his room.

"They're the ones that brought her here! It's their fault that she is now running loose around here," one voice said, there was a harsh murmur of agreement and the sounds of weapons being readied. The doctor with Pinako in his arms to the bathroom and locked the door, he sat in the bath unsure of what else to do as he heard the room's front door being hit by a heavy object in the people's attempt to open it. He curled up around Pinako and for the first time in his life, praying earnestly to the God he could only hope existed. Without him noticing, the noises began to die away and were replaced with bird song.

He hesitantly opened his eyes and saw that they were at the bottom of a well, which from the feel of the ground hadn't held water for a long time. He told Pinako to hold on tightly to him so that she wouldn't fall off when he climbed up the well wall. As soon as he slipped over the top of the well and placed his feet on solid ground he realised something with on glance around.

"Somehow, we are no longer in modern Japan," he murmured, trying not to notice the weird looks he was getting from the locals.