Disclaimer - Rurouni Kenshin is definitely not mine, and there never really was a Hidden Rurouni Kenshin Stories Series...that's just my imagination. Rurouni Kenshin is owned by Nohiburo Watsuki!
Saitou - Scary imagination...
Hitoezakura - You shush!
Anyways, my series was once put up here, and it was my first work of fanfiction, but as I read through it this summer, I found it childish and quite unpolished. So I decided to rewrite it all with new plots and more characterization, and hopefully it came out for the better.
Anyways, there are eight parts, and while they sometimes focus on different characters, they do intertwine towards the last four parts, so it would be nice if you read all eight parts, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.
So I'll shut up, and please review once you finish reading! I'd really appreciate it!
RUROUNI KENSHIN HIDDEN STORIES PART I - THE WOLF AND THE GEISHA
Prologue
January 27, 1868
Aritame Shirai whistled softly as he began to tread upon the path that led him back to his home. The bundle on his shoulders was quite heavy, and he was eager to reach his home so that his wife and children could feast upon the food in the bundle with smiles on their faces. As he whistled and mused about his family, he suddenly realized that he had reached the extremely dark areas of the path, areas covered with thick shrubs and large trees. During this part of his walk back home, he usually carried a small lantern to illuminate his path, but today, the skies were illuminated already by a dull orange glow. He assumed it was the sunset.
However, as he continued to walk, he realized that no sunset was accompanied by billows of smoke. He rushed forward urgently, his legs moving as quickly as he could without dropping the bundle from his shoulders. He suddenly stopped in his tracks with an expression of surprise and promptly dropped the bundle as he stared at a rectangular piece of wood that lay at his feet.
"FIRE!" he yelled "There's a fire at the Takagi Hut!"
The nearby houses were suddenly illuminated by lanterns as concerned neighbors rushed out of their tiny houses to see the Takagi hut burning to the ground. They immediately commenced to bring pails of water to douse the fire, but despite their efforts, an hour had passed before they were able to extinguish the fire completely.
"Aritame-san, we need to check for survivors!" yelled one of the men urgently, pushing through the rubble. "Do you remember exactly who lives in this hut?"
"The Kamiyas should know. All I know is that this was the Takagi household due to the nameplate that was at my feet as I reached the hut" replied Shirai concernedly. "The Dojo is nearby my home. I'll drop off my bundle and immediately fetch the Kamiya family!"
Shirai lifted his bundle and disappeared as the remaining neighbors rummaged through the rubble, desperately searching for bodies and possible survivors.
Kamiya Kaoru was abruptly awakened by rough knocking on the dojo doors. She rubbed her eyes tiredly as she heard her father's heavy footsteps run past her door. She curiously crept out of her room and hid behind a tree nearby the entrance as her father allowed their nighttime visitor.
"Aritame-san? What are you doing here so late?" inquired Kamiya Koshijiro curiously. Kaoru promptly left her hiding place to hear the answer, since Shirai had always treated her kindly and often brought his sons to the dojo so that they could train in under her father's swordsmanship style, the Kamiya Kasshin Style.
"Kamiya-san, there was a fire at the Takagi household!" replied Shirai urgently. "You were excellent friends with the Takagis, and we were hoping you would be able to identify the bodies!"
"Toki-neesan!" shrieked Kaoru worriedly. "Otousan, what if Toki-neesan is hurt?"
"Hush Kaoru-chan, she may be perfectly fine" murmured Koshijiro comfortingly. "Aritame-san, please lead the way. We must see if there are any survivors!"
Koshijiro, Shirai, and Kaoru immediately rushed towards the Takagi home, all praying that the family had survived.
Kaoru was greeted with the smell of smoke and charred wood. She immediately used her sleeve to cover her nose from the awful stench, but dropped it in surprise as she stared at the charred remains of the Takagi home.
"Toki-neesan!" she shrieked, running towards the home with tears running down her face. Immediately, one of the neighbor women rushed forward to prevent Kaoru from seeing the awful sight.
"Kamiya-san, we were only able to retrieve one body" replied one of the men mournfully. "Aritame-san told us you were quite close to the family. How many people lived here?"
"They were a family of three" replied Koshijiro quietly. "Takagi Tono-san had been summoned to war for his amazing amount of skill, and his wife Tameni-san immediately moved to Tokyo after he left home because Kyoto was incredibly unsafe, and she didn't want to be alone while it was in such a tumultuous state. She brought her daughter Tokio-kun to Tokyo as well. As far as I know, Takagi-san never returned home from battle, but Tokio-kun and Tameni-san were living in this home."
"We found no bodies…" called out another man. "The mother, what was her name…do you think she could've survived and escaped?"
"Tameni-san" answered Koshijiro, "Was quite ill as of late, the same sickness that caused the death of my own wife. However, Gensai-san informed me today that Tameni-san had a chance at a full recovery…"
"Hey, I found something here!" yelled out Shirai suddenly, whipping out an ash covered letter from underneath a charred log. He immediately scanned the contents and blanched.
"Kamiya-san, I think Tameni-san may have lit the fire herself in desperation" whispered Shirai softly. "This is a letter informing her that Takagi Tono met hid death today."
Koshijiro's eyes widened and he snatched the sheet from Shirai's hands and stared at it. After a minute, he lowered it from his face to reveal a grim appearance.
"Tameni-san was always quite a passionate and impulsive woman. I have no doubt that this is the fire she caused" murmured Koshijiro quietly.
"Tameni-san did not cause this fire."
All heads turned to see Dr. Gensai's grim face meet them.
"Tameni-san was an impulsive woman, and she often wasn't entirely rational. However, there is no doubt in my mind that she always thought about the safety of her daughter, and she would never condemn Tokio-kun to death. Also, someone informed me that this fire was discovered an hour ago, but three hours ago, Tokio-kun came to me to inform me that her mother had died due to the shock of her husband's death. At that moment, I was tending a patient, but I told her that the next day, we would prepare a funeral for her" murmured Dr. Gensai softly. "However, Tokio-kun did not wait. Look in the trees beyond."
All eyes glanced beyond the trees to see a simple memorial tablet amidst the trees. Shirai rushed towards the memorial tablet to read what was written upon it.
"Here is the grave of Takagi Tameni, a woman who lived in constant suffering" murmured Shirai. "That must mean…Tokio-kun is still alive. She burned the house down so that she wouldn't have to remember all this pain, but she's still alive!"
Kaoru stared at Dr. Gensai and Shirai with tear-stained cheeks, her azure eyes startled.
Then Toki-neesan is still alive! But why hasn't she come back? Okaasan's gone, Tameni-obasan's gone, but Toki-neesan promised that she would stay forever…so why did she leave?
"So where do you think Tokio-kun is?" asked Koshijiro grimly.
The whole gathering fell silent, unable to answer, for not one person knew where the fifteen-year-old girl could've disappeared to.
Eyes as grey as stormy clouds stared up at the stormy skies of that night, silently watching as the rain began to fall.
The fire must have been doused by now…at least it won't burn down the whole city…
But the fire in my heart will not be doused until I can find the murderer of my father…he became an assassin to bring about the new era, and someone ruthlessly murdered him! I will not rest until the murderer of my father is dead, no matter what I must do!
I will avenge his death, because his death caused the death of my dear Okaasan…
A flash of lightening illuminated the grounds below, revealing a fifteen-year-old girl, her eyes as grey as the storm above, her frame quite thin, but her eyes as stormy and determined as ever.
That day, January 27, 1868, during the first year of the Meiji, a fifteen-year-old girl named Takagi Tokio disappeared from the village of Tokyo, leaving behind the charred remains of her home and the grave of her mother. Few knew she actually existed, and few missed her presence as she disappeared from history forever…or so they thought...
End Of Prologue
So, the prologue describes how Takagi Tokio left her home...but the plot will turn, so please keep reading and reviewing...
Ja ne for now!
