Rurouni Kenshin – Small Lady Samurai

Chapter One

By gametaken

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, nor do I own any characters portrayed in the manga, television series, or any other animated productions of the kind.

Author's Note: Because of a certain lack of Rurouni Kenshin fan fics by yours-truly, I decided to make a small series based off of a role play I was on in a forum. The role play turned out pretty good. This tale involves Sanosuke Sigara and Kenshin Himura plus a small stranger who supposedly comes in search of her former Seki-Houtai "father," Sanosuke. This story will turn out to be a tale of false trust, bonds and friendship, love, betrayal, and hurt. Sounds like a thriller, no? Let's start!

The bustling streets of Tokyo nearby the Kamiya Kashin dojo were filled with busy shoppers, stressed mothers ushering their rowdy children along before them, and arguing traders bartering over their goods.

A few police patrolled the market streets, brandishing their swords proudly beside them as a sign of rule over the townsmen. This era of no swords was a rebellious era. No one dared carry a sword in broad day light for fear of being caught.

A young girl about the age of ten walked the streets alone, wearing a beautiful orange children's kimono with a purple sash. Purple flower petals danced along the right side, seemingly gliding through the thin black branches depicted on the fabric.

Tucked in the front of her sash was a wakasashi, a shorter version of a katana. The handle was wrapped with strong black twine and the hilt was a fine silver. The sheath was a dark purple with flecks of grey and black in it. Tied about the top of the handle with a purple ribbon, just beneath the hilt, was a strand of purple and orange glass beads and a small black onyx bead in the shape of a bear.

Her hair was raven black and tied in two buns atop her head with purple ribbons, an orange glass bead at the ends of the ribbons. Her bangs just brushed the top of her thin, curiously arched eye brows.

Her skin was a weathered tan as if she'd spent her entire life out in the sun. Her face was round and sweet and her eyes were a warm orange color, big and fathomless.

The girl crossed her arms in front of her so that her long sleeves cleverly hid the short sword. A small swallow flitted above her, chirping happily as she walked through the streets. An old, happy merchant man with kind, squinting eyes and a comic smile that spread from ear to ear waved her in his direction.

Attracted, the girl walked over to him, eyes wide and curious. The old man gestured to a small rack hung with necklaces of all sorts of colored beads. A few of them were orange and purple, like the colors the girl displayed in her demeanor.

"I see you are fond of those colors," the old man said in a cheerfully gruff voice as he waved his hand at her kimono. "Take a look at this old man's necklaces and charms, little girl, and see if any interest you."

The girl smiled and gave a small bow to the old merchant. She stood on her tip toes to get a good look at all the charms and a glittering silver pendant caught her attention. It was of a panda bear; the black patches were of onyx stone and the white was silver. It hung on a string of small onyx beads that glittered in the sun.

She smiled widely, pleased by its beauty. She pointed to the necklace, her other arm still covering the sword, and said, "That one is really pretty, Ossan! (Ossan is a Japanese term one would use to address and older person. Ochan is another term to call a senior, but this term has more familiarity affiliated with it.) How much is it, please?"

"Oh-ho-ho," chuckled the old merchant. "For you, little one, I will make a special price. I feel you have a very strong connection with this animal." He touched the bear pendant with his long, practiced fingers. "For you, five yen."

"Five?" exclaimed the little girl, eyes wide and a smile on her face. She frantically fumbled for the silk money pouch at her side, revealing the wakasashi as she did so. Her sparrow chirped frantically and hopped to her shoulder.

She heard a sharp intake of breath from the old merchant and looked up as he said, "A sword?" With a shocking pang, she realized what he had seen. Quickly, she crossed her arms before her, covering the sword, and bowed low to the merchant.

"I have to go, Ossan. Thank you for the offer. Gomenasai, Ossan." She turned sharply to run, but only ran into a man cloaked in purple. Her bird took off as she looked up and a sharp breath cut her short from speaking his name.

He had kind blue eyes and flame red hair. He wore a cross shaped scar on his left cheek and carried a sword at his side. He smiled and kneeled on one knee to be at eye level with the girl.

"You should be more careful when you're running, little girl," he said with a kind smile. He dropped his voice to a low whisper and added, "And even more careful when hiding your sword, although I am quite confused at why a child would have a sword. Those are dangerous, you know?"

"The Batousai," the girl said under her breath. Her eyes went wide, then narrowed defiantly and said, "I know a sword is dangerous, and I am perfectly able to use one."

Kenshin's eyes grew wide. He hadn't expected the girl to know who he was. This child was intriguing to the samurai and he smiled. "So you recognize me, huh? It seems I've doubted you. This one has a question for you."

She raised a brow. "What is it?"

"What is your name and where are your parents? You shouldn't be alone like this."

The girl smirked. "That's two questions, Batousai, but I'll answer them. My name is Xiao Mei Sigara. My mother passed away and I'm looking for my father."

Kenshin's eyes went wide in shock for a moment. "Sigara?" There was a pause between them before he stood up and said, "Follow me, Xiao Mei."

"Hm? What for?"

"I'll take you to your father."

Xiao Mei's eyes went wide at what he said. Was it that simple to find him? Perhaps it was true, but that only meant Xiao Mei would get her job done faster with less questions asked.

Eyeing the civilians about her, Xiao Mei followed the Batousai to her father, or where this man believed he was. They wound through the bustling streets and across a small bridge.

Soon, they were out of the busy market place and in a rural area. They took a path through sakura trees that lead them to a sword training dojo. "The Kamiya Kashin Dojo" read a sign out front.

Kenshin stopped and looked back at Xiao Mei, who was too busy taking in all her surroundings to notice he stopped. She bumped right into him, lost her balance, and fell on her butt.

"Oof!" she said with a wince.

Looking up, she was greeted by the smiling face of the Batousai as he extended a hand to the young girl. "Need a hand?"

Xiao Mei took it and was pulled to her feet. "Sorry about that," she said, dusting off her rear end. "Is this the place?"

Kenshin nodded and said, "He should be inside now. Come, let's go check, alright?"

Xiao Mei nodded and followed the man in. She kicked off her sandals and stepped up on the patio; it was very well cleaned. Kenshin opened the sliding door to reveal a comfortably furnished interior.

"Miss Kaoru," called Kenshin. "We have a guest!"

"A guest?" replied Kaoru as she came out from the hall. She smiled kindly when she saw the young girl and said, "Well, who's this?"

With a smile, Kenshin simply said, "She's here to see Sano. Is he here?"

Kaoru nodded and said, "Yes, he is. He should be out back. The last time I checked, he was taking a nap. I'll take you to him, alright?" She smiled down at Xiao Mei. "My name is Kaoru and I'm the head of this dojo. What's your name?"

Xiao Mei put her hands together and bowed. "My name is Xiao Mei Sigara, ma'am."

"Huh?" Kaoru said a hand to her mouth. "Did you say Sigara?"

"What're you sayin' my last name for, Kaoru?" asked Sanosuke, yawning, as he came in from the back way. He stopped, seeing Xiao Mei, and pointed. "Who's the kid?"

Kenshin's eyes went wide. "You mean you don't know!" he said with a start.

Xiao Mei's gaze was straight forward, meeting Sanosuke's gaze, intense and defiant.

Sano shook his head. "No, I've no idea who she is."

"She's your daughter!" Kenshin said unbelievably.

Sano nearly choked on the breath of air he was taking in. "M-My DAUGHTER? I don't have a daughter!" He looked from Kenshin down to Xiao Mei.

He walked up to her, a sweat drop hanging over head, and eyed her curiously. He squatted down to eye level with the child and asked, "What's your name, kid?"

"My name is Xiao Mei Sigara," she said, her gaze unblinking.

"Xiao Mei? If I did have a daughter, I would never name her Xiao Mei. That's a Chinese name! I would've given her a good Japanese one."

"The first name doesn't matter," said Xiao Mei in a slightly harsh, defiant tone of voice. "It's the last name: Sigara. Don't you remember mother?"

He raised a brow and said, "I think you've got the wrong idea, kid. I didn't have any kid with any woman."

Just as he made to get up, Xiao Mei said, "Xiao Ling!"

Sano froze, half way up, and looked at Xiao Mei with wide, slightly horrified eyes. "How do you know that name?"

"That's the name of the woman you loved, isn't it?" asked Xiao Mei, orange eyes intense and defiant as always. "That's the name of my mother!"

Memories flooded Sano's mind: Memories of a young Chinese girl, a stowaway on a boat from China, with extraordinary skills with the Chinese sword, the Dao.

She joined the Seki Houtai when she was caught practicing her sword skills by a young man with spiky brown hair and proud brown eyes. He told her his name was Sanosuke Sigara, and she told him hers was Xiao Ling Wu Mei.

It was love at first sight and they were together until the fall of the Seki Houtai leader. Sano left without a word, leaving behind an unsuspecting mother-to-be.

Sanosuke's eyes glazed over as he looked back on his memories of that woman.

"Do you remember now?" asked Xiao Mei, interrupting his thoughts.

He turned his gaze back to Xiao Mei and asked, "Where's Xiao Ling? How is she?"

A deathly silence fell over the small group in the dojo. Kenshin knew the answers to Sano's questions. The girl had revealed them to him upon their meeting.

The defiant look in Xiao Mei's fiery orange eyes glazed over to one pitted against sadness. She took a breath and said, almost as a sigh, "She's dead."

A pain like a dagger through his heart racked Sano's body: She was dead. The woman he loved so dearly for so long a part in his life was dead. "When?" was all he could ask Xiao Mei.

"When you left," she started, "my mother was depressed. She looked for you, but she couldn't keep it up. When she found out she was pregnant with me, she and my nanny moved to China. She got sick a year after I was born, although my nanny told me that this sickness was only her depression taking a physical part.

"She died when I was two years old and I was raised to three by my nanny. There was an epidemic in the small village I was in. My nanny got sick, but, for some horrible reason, I didn't. I was left the only healthy person in that village of sick people.

"To escape the epidemic, my nanny took me to another village that was famous for its martial arts school. I was raised there until my nanny died and I came here to Japan to look for you."

She took long breaths that seemed to take a great effort in her part. She stood tall, defiant, not bothering to hide her sword. Her cheeks flushed red as she took more effort to continue her regular breathing pattern.

Sano must've noticed her strange behavior because he placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, "Are you alright, Xiao Mei?"

She shrugged her father's hand off and replied, "I'm fine!" She lurched forward and fell to the floor.

"Xiao Mei!" Kaoru cried, coming quickly to the child's side.

Kenshin looked up to Kaoru and said, "Ms Kaoru, go get Ms Megumi! We need her here."

"She left to the market with Yahiko, Kenshin, I don't know where she is," Kaoru replied hectically.

"Not anymore," said Megumi as she walked in the front door. "What's going on?"

"Megumi," cried Sano. "Come quick!"

Megumi, seeing Xiao Mei passed out on the floor, rushed to the girl's side. Yahiko came to the door carrying the basket with the groceries.

"Sure, leave me with the groceries," he mumbled.

Megumi jumped up to her feet and ran to Yahiko. For a moment, Yahiko thought she was going to relieve him of his load, but, instead, she rummaged through it and pulled out a bundle of herbs tied with twine.

"Thanks," Yahiko muttered, glaring up at the woman. "What's all the fuss about anyway?" he asked, setting the basket down on the floor. He was answered by the sight of the unconscious Xiao Mei on the floor.

When Xiao Mei woke up, she felt the touch of a cool, damp towel on her forehead. She looked up to an open window on the wall closest to her. Her sparrow was perched on the window sill as he chirped a cheerful sound.

"You came back, Long Yen," Xiao Mei said softly with a sweet smile. (Long Yen is means Dragon Eye in Chinese. Xiao Mei means Little Sparrow.)

The door opened to the small guest room she was in and Long Yen fluttered away. Slightly disappointed, Xiao Mei turned to look at who disturbed her bird.

It was a young boy, who looked to be about Xiao Mei's age. "Looks like you had the birds sing to you," he said as he came to sit by her futon mattress.

"Who are you?" Xiao Mei asked rather bluntly.

"M-Me?" he stuttered in reply as if he just realized she was talking to him.

"Yes, you," Xiao Mei replied with a laugh. "There's no one else in this room."

"R-Right," Yahiko said, his face blushing. He scratched his head and said, "My name's Yahiko."

"Yahiko . . . that's a nice name," Xiao Mei said with a smile. "Does it mean anything?"

Yahiko jumped, his face blushing even more. Oo "M-Mean something? Not that I know of. It's not th-that great a name. Heh-heh . . . Uh, w-what's your name?"

"My name is Xiao Mei," she said, taking the damp towel from her forehead and sitting up.

"That's a pretty name," Yahiko said with a smile. His face was slightly less red than before. "What does it mean?"

"Little Sparrow," she said, smiling kindly to Yahiko. She liked this boy. There was something about him, something strong and defiant like Xiao Mei, that made her comfortable around him.

"Little Sparrow, huh?" replied Yahiko with a smile. "Is that why the birds like you so much?" he asked with a laugh.

Xiao Mei laughed with him and said, "Who knows! I found Long Yen when he was still in his egg."

"Long Yen?" asked Yahiko.

Xiao Mei nodded and said, "Long Yen is the bird that was singing to me on the window sill."

"It sounds like a strong name," Yahiko said.

Xiao Mei laughed and said, "Of course it does! It means Dragon Eye."

"Wow," Yahiko said with a grin. "It's times like this I wish I had a Chinese name!"

Xiao Mei giggled through a smirk and said, "Maybe I'll come up with one for you, hm? What about Fat Fang?"

"Fat Fang! But I'm not fat!"

Xiao Mei laughed, holding her hands at her stomach.

"What's so funny?" Yahiko asked, not understanding.

"Fat Fang doesn't mean you're fat, Yahiko! It's just a name! But I don't think it's the right one for you, so I'll come up with a different one, alright?"

Yahiko sighed. "Good, because I don't like Fat Fang."

The two laughed together before the door opened again to reveal Megumi standing with her arms crossed. "It looks like you two have made fast friends," she said with a smirk. "What's so funny?"

"We were coming up with a Chinese name for Yahiko," Xiao Mei said, still laughing. "He didn't like Fat Fang."

"Well, I wouldn't either," Megumi said with a shrug. "I don't like being called fat."

The three laughed again before it settled down. "How are you feeling, Ms Sigara?"

Yahiko raised an eye brow and looked at Megumi incredulously. "'Ms Sigara'? What are you talking about?"

"Ah, so no one told you," Megumi said with a smirk. "It appears that Xiao Mei is Sanosuke's daughter."

"His daughter!" Yahiko exclaimed.

Xiao Mei sighed. "I didn't know it would cause such controversy that I'm his daughter."

"Well, considering the fact that none of us, including your father, knew about you, I'd say it's a pretty big shock," said Megumi with a smirk. "Now that you're awake, Xiao Mei, dinner is ready."

Xiao Mei smiled kindly and said, "I'll be there in a couple of minutes." That was soon followed by a low growl from her stomach. "Make that one minute."

Megumi smiled, nodded her head, and said, "Come on, Yahiko, let's leave our guest be."

"Right," Yahiko said, getting to his feet and following Megumi out of the room.

Xiao Mei sighed, somewhat dreading what she was going to have to do now that she found her father. What she dreaded the most was being hated by that boy, Yahiko, and Megumi, the woman who had been so kind to her.

She wondered if she should add the Batousai to her list, but then thought better of it. She needed to stay alive.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note: TA-DAA! My very first Rurouni Kenshin fan fic! What is Xiao Mei planning to do? Why is she starting to dread her mysterious task? If you guess right, I'll give a special shout-out to you in the next chapter! You like the story? Please let me know of anything that could improve or any ideas for the next chapter. Oh, and I forgot to put this in the author's notes of my Gundam Wing – The Memories of Duo Maxwell, but if you have any ideas for the next chapter of any series of mine, please feel free to let me know.