Disclaimer: I Do NOT own Rurouni Kenshin, that right belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki. This story is strictly fan-based. I do, however, own Sannai Erina

The Female Rurouni: Sannai Erina

During the Revolution there was swords woman who matched the reputation of the Legendary Hitokiri Battōsai. When she joined the Ishin Shishi, no one took her seriously because she was a young girl at the age of twelve. However she

proved herself after saving her commander from an ambush of twenty men, without getting a scratch on her or even breaking a sweat! Throughout the years her reputation grew and she gained the name Lady Battōsai. Then, when she

was assigned stealth missions, she gained the name Shadow Vixen. However, a year before the war ended, she disappeared. A rumor spread claiming that the reason she left was because she was beaten and was unable to wield a

sword and that she left Japan, never to return again.

~o~o~o~o~o~

The marketplace in Tokyo Japan was rather empty this time of day in the Meji Era. People were just starting to wake up from their nightly slumber and early risers were just starting to open up shop. A woman was walking down the road

with a sword at her hip, when a whistle was heard. She froze and slowly turned to see a police officer running after her, waving his baton around in the air. She gulped and made a break for it. The officer continued to chase her, blowing

his whistle and yelling at her to stop. She bumped into a few people but then sensed a strong presence and dodged that person with ease. The man she dodged saw her in distress and stepped in front of her, stopping the officer. "Is

there a problem, officer?" The man asked calmly. "This young lady is breaking the sword banning act!" He informed him, pointing at the woman's weapon on her hip. The man looked and saw the sword, blinking his eyes as if he hadn't

noticed it before. He looked back at the officer and chuckled a bit. "Officer, I'm sure that you could pardon her. I, too, wear a sword, that I do." He said moving his sword a bit to show him. "Sir Himora, you have special privileges that this

woman does not. She could be a threat. Perhaps the one that has been committing the murders as of late." At this information and accusation, the woman stepped in to defend herself. "I just arrived in this town. I am merely passing

through. I don't go around killing for pleasure. Please do not accuse me of anything unless you have accurate evidence." At her small speech, the officer blinked, surprised that she had defended herself so well. Still, he was not going to let

it go that easily. It seemed that the man, Himora, could tell and spoke up once again. "I do not feel any murderous intentions from this woman, that I do not. Please pardon her during her stay here. If she causes trouble I will take full

responsibility for her actions, that I will." He was smiling throughout his plea and the officer clicked his tongue, then glared at the woman who jumped a bit and blinked, straightening up. "If I catch you around without Sir Himora I will arrest

you. You are pardoned for right now." He then turned and left. The woman sighed in relief and slouched a bit. She turned to Himora and bowed slightly. "Thank you for your help, sir. I really appreciate it." She straightened up and smiled at

the red-haired man. She noticed that he was carrying a rather lot of items. She offered to help him carry them to his home as a thank you, and after a small, friendly argument, he gave in and allowed her to help him. She carried a bag of

rice and the bean dip as he carried another bag of rice and soy sauce.

~o~o~o~o~o~

The building they had walked to was a dojo that's condition was a bit run down. A young boy ran up to them and asked who the girl was, taking the items from her person. "I am simply a rurouni that is thanking this man for helping me

out earlier." The boy looked her over, suspicion clearly written over his face. Then he glanced at her sword and looked at Himora. The man nodded and the boy smiled and then walked away, she guessed to put the food away. "Thank

you for your help. It took some weight off of my shoulders, that it did." The woman smiled, bowed and told him she'd be on her way. The man watched her leave, watching the sword on her hip. He smiled slightly and walked into the

dojo. "I'm back!" He announced and went to put what he was carrying away. The boy walked up to him, hands behind his head. "Kenshin, who was that?" "Hm? Oh, I do not know. She was being harassed by an officer for bearing a

sword. I simply helped her so she would not be arrested, that I did." He smiled and turned to head outside. He mumbled something about doing the laundry and then noticed that the mistress of the home was not there. The boy,

known as Yahiko, informed him that she was training at a neighboring dojo and would be back later. Kenshin made a mental note to have the bath prepared for her for when she returned. Yahiko laughed and walked away, saying that

she had him whipped. The comment left Kenshin blinking at the boy's retreating form. He shrugged, not taking his words to heart, and went to collect the laundry. He washed them while thinking of what he should make for dinner. But

his thoughts on that topic didn't last long. They wondered to the sword bearing woman he saved earlier. She in fact did not have a murderous aura around her, it was calm and peaceful. And from the way she dodged him he could tell

that she was anything but defenseless. But what was a woman carrying a sword around for? The question remained in his head since he noticed it when the officer pointed it out. He finished the laundry faster than he thought and got

up to hang them up to dry. He dismissed the question from his mind, he doubted he'd see her again. So he wouldn't let it bother him. "Perhaps I'll make stew tonight." He thought out loud as he draped the clothing over the ropes.

~o~o~o~o~o~

The rurouni woman from before sat down at a table at the well known Akabeko with a bowl of beef pot in front of her. She bowed her head and whispered; " Itadakimasu" before breaking her chopsticks apart and beginning to eat. The

food was heaven in her mouth. It had been so long since she had a decent meal. As she ate she kept feeling a disturbing presence around her and it was upsetting her somewhat. Then, before she knew it, she felt the presence come

closer to her. She knew that avoiding the confrontation was impossible. She just wanted to finish her meal and not waste any of the food she was served. Not have to deal with thugs. A man, obviously drunk, leaned against one of the

thin paper walls that separated her booth from the others. She could smell the alcohol coming from him and it disgusted her how strong it was. "Hey beautiful. I noticed you were...sitting here all alone. Would you like to...j-join me and

my friends for a drink or two?" The woman just ignored him and took another bite of her meal. The guy waited a short while before getting irritated for not getting an answer. "Hey you stupid bitch! I asked you a question! Did you not

hear me?" He was rather loud with the insult. After putting the last bit of food in her mouth, she set the utensil she ate with down then looked up at the man, blinking her green eyes at him. "I heard you quite well. Forgive me, but I

have no intension on having alcohol today." She refused the drunk's offer politely. She stood up while placing her sword on her hip and walked past him, intent on finding the owner and paying for her meal. However, it seemed that the

man was not satisfied with her answer. He grabbed her arm and tugged her backwards. "You're breaking the law by bearing a sword. How about a bet? You challenge me and my friends. And if we win you spend the rest of the

afternoon and the evening with us." He challenged in a rather annoyed tone of voice. The woman sighed and gently removed his tight grip from her arm. "I try to avoid violence. So please accept my refusal." Then the man grabbed the

young waitress and held a knife to her throat. "I insist. Or I might accidently hurt this young girl." Green eyes instantly hardened and he nicked her neck causing her to wince and bleed a bit. She glared at the man slightly. "Fine. I accept

the challenge. Now release the girl." The man let her go but one of his friend grabbed her. "Need to keep her hostage. I hope you can understand." The glare darkened a bit more.

~o~o~o~o~o~

"Is there really no other way to avoid this confrontation?" The green eyed woman asked with a soft sigh. Though she knew that the only way was to have a drink with this man and his friends. Which she would not do. All the men that

wanted to drink with her surrounded her. At the scene, a crowd formed with curious townspeople. She sighed once again and rested her left arm over her sword. Two of the five people that had surrounded her charged at her and after

a swift movement of her sword being drawn and swung at the men, they froze in mid-step. The sighed, holding her sword in front of her at a slight angle to the ground, and closed her eyes as a nervous smile appeared on her face. The

men dropped to the ground and the other three, enraged at their friends' easy defeat, charged at her and pulled out hidden knives from their sleeves. At the last second, the woman spun around quickly into a crouching pose and

sheathed her sword. The men had shocked expressions plastered on their faces before they fell face first onto the ground. She stood up and sighed. "I would have liked to avoid such actions." The girl that had been used as hostage

was thrown to the ground as the sixth guy ran at her. With ease the green eyed girl pulled her sword from her hip, still sheathed, and hit the guy on the side of his face. He fell to the ground and held his injured face, crying out only once

and calling her many harsh and inappropriate names. She walked over to the guy and kneeled down. Then with three fingers, pinched his neck on his pressure point and knocked him out. She stood, put her sword on her hip, and the

young girl ran to her. She smiled and held her hands to her chest as she bowed. "Thank you for saving me." "Tsubame! Are you alright?" An older woman asked coming to the waitress. The girl nodded and the swordswoman pulled

something from her shirt. "Your wound needs to be treated. Please let me help. You were involved in this incident because of me after all." She pulled out a small, round, metal container and opened it to reveal a salve. She rubbed

some of it onto her fingers before gently wiping the blood away with the side of her hand and then rubbing the ointment onto the cut. "That should help so it won't get infected. But as soon as you can clean it and put a bandage over it."

The girl nodded and smiled at her in understanding. "I'm Sanjo Tsubame, but you may call me by my first name. What's your name?" The woman hesitated, contemplating whether she should introduce herself or not. By now the crowd

had almost completely disappeared, only a few stranglers remained. After smiling at the girl, she answered her. "You may call me Sannai, my surname." She said and bowed her head at the girl. Tsubame smile and giggled a bit.

"Sannai." She tested the name on her tongue and the owner of the restaurant spoke up. "And I'm Sekihara Tae. I apologize for the ruffians and how they treated you." Sannai shook her head and said it was alright. She reached into

her money pouch and pulled out the amount for the food and gave it to Tae before excusing herself and walking away. Tae smiled at her retreating form before looking at the money. Her eyes widened when she saw the amount.

Instead of the bill's amount of one thousand one hundred and twenty-three yen, she gave her two thousand two hundred and forty-six yen! "Oh my!" She explained looking back up to see Sannai gone.

~o~o~o~o~o~

"Kenshin! You wouldn't believe what I saw on my way home!" A young woman exclaimed as she put away her equipment. "Oro? Welcome back Kaoru-dono. What did you see?" Kenshin asked walking into the dojo. Kaoru turned

around, excitement filling her eyes. "I saw a fight today!" "Uh...I'm not so sure that's such a good thing, that I do not." Kaoru shook her head and smiled. "It's not just that. But it was 6 men and a woman bearing a sword!" This got

Kenshin's attention. Could she be the same rurouni woman she saved earlier? "And the most amazing part was that that woman beat them so easily! Not a scratch on her and she didn't look like she was tired in the least! She didn't

even break a sweat! And what surprised me is that they were all alive! Just knocked unconscious." She smiled and stared dreamily at the nothing in particular. "She's my new idol. A woman with such skill." Kenshin looked down at the

floor. His mind filling with a bunch of questions. Was it possible? There were no other woman in Tokyo that bore a sword such as she. He was so deep in thought that he failed to hear Kaoru try to get his attention until she touched his

shoulder, concerned for him. "Kaoru-dono, what did this woman look like?" The question seemed to catch the assistant master off guard. "Well, she had brown hair, green eyes, wore a red kimono and a black hakama. Why do you ask?

Do you know her?" Kenshin shook his head and smiled at the young woman in front of him. "No, not in particularly. I helped her earlier though. She was being assaulted by an officer for bearing a sword in public. I got him to pardon her

for that moment, that I did." Kaoru smiled and nodded, saying that that was very generous of him. "Did you happen to catch her name, by any chance?" Kenshin asked with curiosity in his tone. Kaoru nodded and told him that all she

gave was her surname, Sannai. Kenshin thanked her and after Kaoru described what she saw in a little more detail, the ex-Hitokiri informed her that a bath was prepared for her. She smiled and skipped off to the bath house. Kenshin

smiled slightly at the sight. Seeing a woman with such skill must have made Kaoru rather happy and hopeful of becoming as strong someday. Still, the name bothered him for some reason. "Sannai..." She whispered to himself. Why did

it sound so familiar?

~o~o~o~o~o~

"And you want me to investigate this woman? That doesn't sound like you, Battōsai. Asking for such a thing without any reason." A police officer stated before taking a puff of his cigarette. Kenshin sighed and nodded. "I am well aware

of that Saitou, that I am. It's just that the name has been bothering me for a few days now." The officer known as Saitou let out a breath, a cloud of smoke following it. "The only one who has such a name would be Sannai Erina from the

Bakumatsu. But she disappeared eleven years ago and has yet to be spotted. She has been presumed dead. Has been for five years now." He took another puff of his cigarette and looked up at the ceiling of his office, blowing the

smoke out from his nose. It was quiet for a few moments as Saitou silently contemplated whether or not he would do what Kenshin had requested. There wasn't much to benefit from it. Then again, there wasn't anything to lose, either.

If they searched and did some research, and kept an eye on the rurouni girl that was currently in Tokyo, they may or may now find something. Perhaps see if she was indeed dead or if she settled down somewhere they could put it on

record. He sighed and put out the nicotine stick and rested his elbows on his desk, entwining his fingers together. "Alright. I will see what I can do. I hold no promises though." Kenshin smiled in thanks than excused himself. He was

satisfied with Saitou's choice. If things went well and in his favor, he would find out if this woman was dangerous or not. But Kaoru had mentioned that none of the men that attacked her had been killed, merely knocked out. If she was

innocent he would feel a little guilty. But if she wasn't he would feel a bit better, but he'd have to make sure he kept his friends safe. He sighed and hung his head low and his shoulders sagged. His life was anything but ordinary.

Y: Yahiko here! Some woman is saying that her husband was killed by Battōsai!

k: It's just like how Kenshin and I met. Someone's killing using his name again!

Y: Shut up Ugly! I'm doing the preview!

k: What did you say? That's it! 400 strokes!

Y: What? 400? That's crazy!

k: Complaining? Fine. Now it's 500.

Y: No way!

k: Owe! Yahiko! That's it, you're going to get it!

K: Now, now. There's no need to fight!

S: Some thing's will never change. Guess it's up to me, Sagara Sanosuke to wrap this up. Next time on Another Battōsai: Framed: Another Battōsai Appears. Hey Missy, you got any food around here?

k: Go mooch off someone else!