There Are Only Strangers In My World
A Rurouni Kenshin Fiction
= Chapter One =
~ Finding a Life ~
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin does not, in any way, belong to me…
Demure. Dainty. Dignified. Three words that would describe the first impressions one would have of a typical Japanese woman of that time. But she was different. When girls her age had long since learnt to quench their inner fires, leaving them smouldering, she still blazed forth with a strong flame. When girls her age had long since learnt to walk with minute, dainty steps, she still ran like the wind. When girls her age had long since learnt to keep their smiles ever so tiny, she laughed uproariously like a man.
Sakata Yumiko was definitely different. She lived with the Murashino family, but she was by no means part of them. She had been abandoned by her mother, a nameless, faceless figure in Yumiko's world, and the Murashino family had taken her in. Not as a daughter, or a maid, but somewhere in between the two. She had changed her destiny, thwarted expectations of her remaining a lowly maid, when, at six, she caught the eye of the youngest son, then seven, and in turn, attracted the attention of his mother.
She had been helping out with feeding the chickens. Then, she had done the unexpected. She had started herding them, so to speak. She was smiling and laughing, and was a picture of joy, a joy forgotten by most of the family members. Murashino Junichi clapped his hands in delight as he watched the chickens beat their wings in an effort to fly. His mother noticed this, and the event that had caused it. At first, her lips curled up in displeasure, but then unfolded into a slight smile. Maybe she was recalling her days as a peasant girl, lifted to a higher status when Murashino Taro fell for her when he was riding, high and mighty, on his horse. Her parents, naturally, had no objections to the marriage.
Murashino Matsuko called the little girl to her side. "What is your name, little girl?" she asked in a voice so gentle it made Yumiko feel at ease.
"Your humble servant is Sakata Yumiko." Sakata. The name of Matsuko's handmaid.
Matsuko asked, "Whose child are you?"
"Your humble servant regrets to inform you that she has no idea. She only knows that Sakata-sama took her in when she was abandoned as a baby."
Matsuko pressed her query further. "By Sakata-sama, you mean Sakata Yume?"
Yumiko answered in the affirmative, and Matsuko's eyebrows lifted, though Yumiko didn't catch this, having remained in a bowing position in deference to Matsuko's authority.
"Oka-san, I'm bored." Junichi's voice made his mother turn away from Yumiko to talk a little to him. After sending him away to play ball with his elder brothers, Matsuko took Yumiko into the house. The large house was somewhere Yumiko had never been permitted to enter. Now, with this privilege bestowed on her, she made the best of it, keeping her eyes wide open and noticing every detail, from the polished wooded fixtures, to the embroidered clan crest on the curtains in the doorway. She was taken to a small room, with a large tub. Matsuko's quick directions for her to remove her clothes were immediately complied with, and out of nowhere, it seemed, a handmaid appeared, to bathe the six-year-old. Apparently, Matsuko had also ordered that new clothes be provided for Yumiko, and she was dressed in the most beautiful outfit she had ever worn.
She was again led into another room, where she saw two other young girls. One was nine. The other was eleven. They both looked at her curiously, but turned back to playing their shamisens when Matsuko shot them a look. Matsuko let Yumiko stand there, unsure of what to do, for some time, before she bade her come forward and placed her small hands on an instrument similar to the ones the other girls' were playing. So it was, that Matsuko came to shower affections on the little Yumiko. Who, at the end of the day, still ran in the yard and returned to Sakata's quarters. You would think that all would be well for the abandoned baby, now that the mistress of the house had taken her under her wing. But it was not to be. But while it lasted, the good times were memorable.
"Yumiko-chan," Murashino Junichi called. Yumiko stood up from her crouch at the edge of the vegetable garden, where she had been weeding. Seventeen-year-old Junichi showed her his sword. He had been improving vastly at kendo, and had always come running outside after a sweaty practice, to talk to her. He knew she would be there.
"It is very nice, Murashino-sama." Despite her heightened status in the eyes of many, Yumiko never shed the respectful suffix that followed the names of the family members. Junichi, as always, scowled a little and rolled his eyes.
Then he said in a much quieter voice, "Oka-san was crying. Otou-san wants you to be married. To Fukuda Ken."
Yumiko looked at the ground. She knew it would be coming. And she knew why Murashino Matsuko was crying. To marry into the Fukuda family was like marrying into a family of whoremongers.
"So it's time, then." Many her age, of her status, had been married off already. The ones left behind were the ones destined for a life of slavery. Some had been lucky. Some had not. She was not. Yumiko forced herself to be strong. She met Junichi's eyes. And saw a fierce longing in them. So fierce that it scared her.
"You must go. Go away. Find some other place to stay." His voice was pleading, cajoling.
She looked back at him. Her wild spirit revealing itself in her eyes. The fire was still burning. A challenge. "But why?"
"Because…because…" Junichi was at a loss for words, "because I say so."
Lame. She knew it. He knew it.
She said, "I won't, then."
He was shocked. And nervous. And scared. For her. She knew it. She didn't want to admit it. He looked at her. She was making things difficult.
"Go, just go. I'll look for you, I'll come after you."
"Come after me? My goodness, what are you saying?" M
urashino Junichi glared at her. "Just go!" Yumiko knew the gravity of her situation. And she knew the consequences of running away. But she had to do it. Her eyes of steel looked right into Junichi's.
"Kyoto, a year from now. Promise me, then." He did.
She hoped he would keep it.
She left the next night, slipping off into the darkness in which she had come. Finding a new life. And hoping. And waiting.
Author's Note: I hope you've liked what you've read…either way, click that button and tell me! Can't see any connection to Rurouni Kenshin yet? Well, it's on its way…count this as kinda like the prologue, then! This is my fourth RK fic, so do also go read the others! I really appreciate any comments and constructive criticisms that you can offer! There's always room for improvement, right?