Disclaimer: I do not own Kenshin and his group of friends
Summary: A young mysterious girl meets Kenshin, only to find he is really the murderer to her family, but she falls in love with Kenshin's friend.
Unknown Rivalry
By: Wintersnowfallz
It was a cloudy day as Kaoru and Kenshin were walking in the streets buying tofu when they saw a young lady, in a pink kimono and with dark brown hair, running frantically towards them. The girl who was looking behind her ran into Kenshin.
"ORO!" Kenshin stumbled backwards as he caught her.
He saw there were a group of men chasing after her. The girl looked up as Kenshin was saying his stream of "oro"s, then her eyes gazed by his waist where his Sakabato was.
"Please, please help me. I'm being chased by some men, they want to rape me, and then kill me, please save me." She begged.
Her hand was held to her chest as it heaved in and out.
Kenshin looked down at the girl whose eyes filled with pureness and knew she was innocent. Then one of the men raised his sword and swung it towards the girl, but Kenshin blocked it without looking away from her eyes.
"This one would like it if you men would please leave her alone."
"You stay out of this; the girl's coming with me, unless you can do something to stop me." Another man spat out.
"For the last time, this one must ask of you to leave." He said, not so kindly this time.
His eyes narrowed and glared at them. The men ignored Kenshin and all charged at the girl. Kenshin sighed as he drew out his sword. As quick as a blink of eye, all six men were sprawled at on the dirt, passed out. The young girl looked back at Kenshin with amazement in her eyes.
"See? You're free. Are you ok?" Kaoru asked her.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you."
The young girl looked at Kenshin and blabbered a stream of appreciation. But Kenshin was no longer looking or listening to anyone, he was looking at a tall blacked hair man, who stood behind the lady, looking around twenty years old.
"Hitokiri Battosai, I, Zanza a fight merchant came here today to ask for a fight."
The girl looked around to see who Hitokiri Battosai may be.
"This one would like to avoid fighting, but if it is inevitable, then let's bring this elsewhere, agree?"
Kenshin replied, taking in that the surroundings was not fit for fighting. There was already a small crowd of people gathering around them since his show case of swordmanship.
"Very well, follow me."
The spiky haired figured turned around and started to walk away, with the symbol of "evil" on his back.
"Kenshin…" Kaoru said hesitantly.
"Not to worry, this will not take very long." Kenshin reply to Kaoru's worried voice with a small gentle smile.
No one noticed the young girl, who had heard everything, got up and followed them to the country side.
When they reached to a safe distance from the city, Zanza pulled out his Zanabatou and prepared to fight Kenshin.
"Do you remember Seikho Army? We were just, we were just trying to help, but you… you and your army betrayed us! You needed a scapegoat and you guys sold us out!" Zanza shouted as he swung his zanabatou down.
"This one is sorry. Your army was righteous and did not deserve to be labeled as evil. While this one may apologize, this one can't let you go on like this. There were already too many sacrifices made to bring the revolution to an end. Sorry Zanza, it must not be allowed for you to make those sacrifices vain. We must end it here."
Kenshin realize he must finish it, so he flipped his sword to the sharp side, jumped into the air, twisted around, and as he landed, he broke Zanza's Zanabatou. Delivering a last swift punch, he defeated Zanza.
Even though he was victor, he was a kind and gentle man at heart, he asked Kaoru to call the doctor. Suddenly Kenshin heard Kaoru scream and he rushed to her.
"What is it Kaoru-Dono?"
Kaoru pointed into the bushes as the pair of chocolate brown eyes emerged and the girl stepped out. At first he though Kaoru was still in shock from the fight and was easily scared, but one look at the girl's eyes was enough for Kenshin to know a fight was desired. He pulled out his sakabato and asked what the girl wanted.
"Isn't it obvious, only your life" The girl replied with a hint of sarcasm.
"Oro?"
"During the Revolution, you killed my father, and my brother, and now I will get revenge."
"At that time, this one was order to fight-"
"They never told you to kill the historian! My father and brother was the bystander to record for history, and you killed them!" the girl now practically screeching.
Kenshin has a flash back, remembers when he killed two men protecting each other with scripts in front of their face as if a shield, he cut through it, and killed two men. Before the elder one died, he had gasped out, "please don't harm my daughters and wife, please." He closes his eyes, for a moment, then opens them to look into a pair of eyes of hate and sadness.
"Understood, do as you wish." He slid his Sakabato back.
But the girl wasn't done talking yet.
"You know how I lived once you took my family, my life away from me? I was constantly chased by the men who wanted to rape my mother, YOUR men. And I'm not even pure Japanese. My mother died protecting me, but even to this day, many of your Japanese men are chasing me. Forcing me to return to China, I tried to swim, but some a man named Sagara saved me. Now I found out it was YOUR men, again, that killed someone innocent. If it weren't for you, I'll still have my family. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. DIE!"
The girl pulls out a short sword, and jumps forward to kill him, but Kaoru grabbed Kenshin's sword and strike back, which caused the mysterious girl to jump back out of surprise.
"Girl, stay out of this." She told Kaoru.
Kaoru couldn't stand this anymore, she had to defend Kenshin. "That's not true! Kenshin never wanted to cause you any pain, he was just doing what he was ordered to do. He probably wasn't allowed to let bystanders and any witnesses alive. Now stop being crazy."
"Kaoru, this one must ask you to stay out this time, please."
But Kaoru refused to listen, she wasn't done yet, she still tried to talk some sense into the girl, "Kenshin … no. Girl, have you thought if you killed him, how many people YOU would hurt? But this time you did it on your own will!"
"This doesn't concern you, I will kill him."
Zanza came around and stood up, struggling to walk over. When he heard the name Sagara, he had to know more.
"I heard you said Sagara? What happened? Do I know you?"
"He saved me when I was floating on the water, I tried to swim back to China, but I passed out and he saved me. The next thing I knew, he was dead."
"I remember seeing you! You came to the stage where they put his head, you stood at the very corner. I grew up with you for a while! Then you can't be much older than 20."
"Yes I am, if you want more answers, I'll give them, after I kill this murderer."
Zanza did not stop the girl as she went forward and plunged the knife into Kenshin's waist. Kaoru attempted to stop her, but she used her shoulder to shove Kaoru to the ground.
Her eyes were determined as she closed her eyes tightly and trusted the blade in. Kenshin was surprised; he didn't expect the girl to actually do it. As he fell to the ground, he looked into her brown eyes and saw hate, sadness, but not blood lust.
"I have avenged you father, brother." She mutters under her breath, with her fist clenching tightly.
Then the girl looks down and sees Kenshin has changed and now has a kinder side. Feeling guilty, she gently pulls out the knife. Kenshin spits out blood and Kaoru quickly grabbed hold of the girl's hand that was holding the knife.
"Please, no more, please." Tears were running like a stream out of her blue eyes.
"I'm NOT going to stab him again, let go." The girl said in a calm voice, at the same time ripping off her own clothes to wrap up Kenshin's wound.
Zanza saw on the girl there was a small cherry blossom birthmark on her right shoulder that was revealed by her torn shirt. He knew she was from his childhood. She was his first friend and first love. Before he could continue to reminisce about his childhood, the girl stood up, pulling Kenshin's arm across her neck.
"I'm going to take him to my place. You follow me, he will die." She said simply.
"NOO I won't let you."
Stubborn Kaoru still opposed, but this time not only verbally, she grabbed a bokuto and swings it at the girl, the girl pulls out Kenshin's sakabato and breaks the bokuto and lightly hits Kaoru on the back of her knees; Kaoru fell down, surprised.
"Don't! This one is your enemy." Kenshin managed to voice out.
"I don't want to hurt her, I didn't strike her hard. Kaoru, plan on being numb, but I have not broken any of your bones. Leave us in peace, or else he will die."
Instantly she grabs Kenshin and runs farther into the country side into a path of dense forest, leaving behind a desperate Kaoru and confused Zanza.
"Let's go to your dojo, she's not the kind of person to kill him, don't worry. If she does release him, he would likely come back here anyways."
The young fight merchant finally convinced Kaoru. Once they reached home, Yahiko came out to greet them, but noted a missing Kenshin. Yahiko didn't even start to ask what happened to him as he saw Kaoru running inside crying.
"What did you do to Kenshin, Zanza?" Yahiko demanded, swinging his bokuto over right shoulder and pointing his left index finger at him.
"I'm Sanosuke Sagara, call me Sano now on. Kenshin was taken away by a girl seeking for revenge. I believe her name original name is Xiao Hua, meaning Little Flower in Chinese, but she goes by Muto Sayo last time I heard from her."
Sano sat down and told Yahiko what happened from beginning to end.
AN: So Sayo appears somewhere in the original story but dies of TB/gunshot. I don't know her very well, but I'm going to use her anyways. ^.^