DISCLAIMER: The characters in this story (Excluding Amaya) do not belong to me, they belong to Nobuiro Watsuki.
Author's Note: Please bear with any anachronisms in the storyline of the anime/manga or the history and culture. I started writing this over five years ago before knowing anything past the Kyoto arc. I only just got around to editing and finishing the story, and did my best to fix errors, but there are bound to be some.
***
The sun cast a reddish glow as it set in the distance. One silhouette could be seen walking to the city of Kyoto. After a long fight with Shishio, the two, Himora Kenshin and Sagara Sanosuke, would finally be able to return home.
It was an excruciating fight. However, in the end, Shishio was ultimately defeated by his own body, which had overheated because of the severe burns he received in the past. While Kenshin managed to keep his oath not to kill, Hajime Saitoh was lost to the heat of purgatory's flames.
Sano walked silently to Kyoto, carrying Kenshin's unconscious body, when he stopped suddenly. He had heard something, and he was trying to locate where it came from. Then he heard it again: the clank of two swords colliding. Without hesitation, he ran towards the noise. He reached a clearing in the forest just in time to see a man fall to the ground. There was a cloaked figure on the opposite side of the clearing, sheathing a sword.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Sano shouted at the figure with an angry voice.
"Excuse me?" The voice sounded. The man was surprised to hear a woman's voice. "First, he attacked me, I was defending myself. Second, he is not dead, just unconscious." She kept her cloak on and her back to Kenshin and Sanosuke.
"You can turn around, I won't hurt you." Sano said to the woman's back.
"If you're not going to hurt me, then why are you still clenching your fists?" The woman asked calmly. Sano noticed she was correct. His hands instinctively tightened into fists out of reflex; he relaxed them and let them hang by his sides. Shortly after he did this, she turned around, keeping her face hidden in her cloak.
"What are your names?" She asked Sano, motioning towards the small, collapsed man.
"This is Himora Kenshin." Sano replied while pointing towards Kenshi. "And my name is Sagara Sanosuke."
"Himora…" The woman thought aloud, removing her hood and revealing her face. "The Battousai? Yes! It is, I remember the hair. My name is Amaya. Amaya Kin Kamai."
"Kamai? Never heard of you!"
"Well, of course not," Amaya nodded and smiled slightly at the sight of Kenshin and walked towards him.
"Hey, not so fast, where do you think you're going?" Sano stepped between her and Kenshin's body.
"Oh, pardon me, I should have told you," She said calmly. "My brother worked with Kenshin during the revolution, we were all friends."
"Oh, well, I'm sure he'd be happy to see you, but he just got out of a rough fight," Sano said, leaning down to lift Kenshin. "I should get going; we have some folks waiting for us. You're welcome to join us; Kenshin'd probably like to see you when he comes to."
Amaya nodded, and began to walk with Sano, when she suddenly grabbed his arm and dragged Sano along as she ran.
"Hey, what the hell?!" Sano shouted, keeping pace with Amaya.
"We must hurry!" She shouted, "When I was passing through Kyoto, I saw a group of thugs headed towards a hotel, the Aoiya. I would have stayed to help, but I knew that man was following me, and had to get to a secluded area so no one would get hurt."
Sano's face when white and his expression serious as he ran faster than he already was. Amaya sprinted forward to catch up to Sano, who was picking up speed. It was dark and the Aoiya was in shambles when they reached it. The battles were over, and the Juppongatana had been defeated.
"Thank you, Master," Kenshin mumbled in his unconscious state, and everyone looked at him, hopefully.
"Kenshin!" Kaoru shrieked happily with wide eyes, but her happiness faded when he wouldn't wake. "Who's this?"
"This is Amaya Kamai, little missy," Sano said. "She and her brother knew Kenshin in the revolution. I ran into her on my way to Kyoto, and she told us that the Aoiya was in danger." Kaoru narrowed her eyes at Kenshin and Amaya.
"It's getting dark, Miss Kamai, maybe you should be heading to your home. Yahiko will walk with you." Kaoru said forcefully and almost untrustingly, to Amaya.
"What?" Yahiko whined, "Kaoru, why can't you walk her home!"
"Well, actually," Amaya said, slowly. "I don't have any place to stay, would it be too much of a bother to stay here? I'd like to make sure Kenshin is okay, it's been so many years since I saw him. When he's conscious, that is." Amaya narrowed her eyes slightly at Kaoru, who crossed her arms.
"Of course you can stay, right Gramps?" Misao shouted with a huge grin. Okina nodded towards the young girl, who was walking inside the building. "You can stay here as long as you'd like. Any friend of Himora's is a friend of ours!"
"I'm going to send word to Megumi, she must be worried sick about our Kenshin. She'll want to help," Kaoru said, changing the subject and eager to get away from the woman, who was making her jealous. She began to walk away, as the others went inside the Aoiya.
'Why am I letting her get under my skin,' Kaoru thought to herself. 'She's just an old friend, that's it.' No matter what she told herself, Kaoru couldn't shake her uncomfortable sense of foreboding.