Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, I only own Shura.
A/N: I revised all of the grammar mistakes in this chapter!
Chapter 1. Enter Sanosuke!
'' 'You,' the man on the horse pointed at the girl's father, 'are you the captain of the army squad camped in this area?'
'Yes, that would be I.' Captain Sagara answered. He was captain of Troop 1 of the Sakehotii.
'I have orders from the chief of the whole imperialist army to relieve you of your duties,' the man said.
'Why is that?' Capt. Sagara asked.
'You and the rest of your troop have been dismissed for lying to the public, causing confusion among the masses of civilians in Japan.'
'What are these lies?'
'The claim that the taxes of the people were to be cut, among other things,' the man answered.
'What do you mean? We did as ordered! That is what we were ordered to do, but those were not false claims!'
'Please follow me.' The man on the horse said, aside from ignoring Capt. Sagara's words, he still had not introduced himself.
Personally, Capt. Sagara's daughter hadn't cared about this man's name, but there was something in his eyes, the way he looked at her father. His eyes, there was something unexplainable about them. Something happy yet evil at the same time.
A wave of fear shot through Shura Sagara's body, although she was trained in the art of swordsmanship, she had the heart and mind of a woman and warrior, which she used to her advantage. Shura had amazing strength for being only 10, but she had been trained by her father...''
Shura awoke with a start; she had heard something from outside, voices. She got up, folded her mat, put it and her pillow to the side, and changed silently. Shura walked across the courtyard to the front door, she dropped her hand down to the sword that was on her waist, everyone believed that she carried a wooden sword, under it was the sword that her father had used during the Revolution that had used her father and his friends as scapegoats and then murdered them. This peaceful time that came after the Revolution was something that Shura hated at times, because both her father and mother hadn't lived to see it.
She stepped out into the darkness and began to walk.
1
Sanosuke Sagara punched the man, who attacked him, "Don't you know that if your drunk you shouldn't pick a fight with someone?" he yelled. These people are weak, Sanosuke thought.
"Someone's headed this way." Sanosuke said quietly, as he knocked out the man coming straight at him. he brushed his clothes of the dust that had come onto his clothes and walked away.
After a few minutes of walking, Sanosuke heard the voices of some men. "Hey cutie, you wanna give us some love?" one of the men said.
1
"You pervert!" Shura said. She hit the three men with the hilt of her sword. "Idiots," she said shaking her head.
"You've got some nice moves there," said a voice from behind her.
Shura turned ready to fight. She was shocked, she knew this man, she couldn't remember when though. She remembered his spiky hair and the band that he had around his head and his face... the Revolution, in the Sakehotii! Shura remembered. She turned and ran, she didn't want to face the past, especially him, Sanosuke.
1
"Who was that, she seemed so familiar, and that look on her face, It's as if she knew me. Oh well, in this small of a town I'm bound to meet up with her again at some point." Sanosuke shrugged. He wanted to be acquainted with this town's streets so he didn't get lost. Sano's stomach growled, I'm so hungry. I could eat a cow, but there's nothing open right now, I'll go catch some fish from that river that I saw coming into town, he thought.
1
"Good morning Miss Shura, you're up early today. Is something bothering you?" Kenshin said; his smile faded when he saw the look on Shura's face. "Did something happen?" he asked, breaking her concentration.
"What, oh nothing's wrong Kenshin, I'm just fine. Thanks for asking though." Shura said with a smile. Kenshin went back to doing the laundry.
Shura went to change for work.
Shura was distracted the whole day at work, but she faked a smile for the customers at the Ako-Beko. Sano sat down at a table. Oh no, what does he want, Shura wondered. She walked towards Sanosuke, "Hello sir, my name is Shura, what would you like to order today?" she asked with a forced smile.
"Hello Shura, I would like to order some beef stew and tea please," Sanosuke answered.
"So, the girl from last night works here and her name is Shura. Captain Sagara's daughter hasn't changed a bit." he smiled to himself.
Shura walked into the kitchen, "Can I get one beef stew and tea, for table one please," she said to the chef.
"Hey Shura!" she heard Kaoru yelled to her.
Shura left the kitchen and walked to her friends, "The usual, right?" she asked.
"Yeah, hey, when's your break, you should join us." Kaoru said.
"Um, my break, its in 20 minutes, but I have to do something that's going to take up my break though, sorry."
"That's ok, but next time we're going to make you, ok?"
"Yeah sure." Shura said smiling at Kaoru.
Shura went back to the kitchen, picked up Sanosuke's meal, and ordered her friends' meal. "Here you go sir, enjoy your meal." Shura said turning away to go, but Sanosuke stopped her.
"Tell me something," he started, "Who is your father?"
"Why do you want to know?" she asked, surprised that he would ask her something like that.
"Was he Captain Sagara of the Sakehotii Troop 1?"
"Maybe he was, and maybe he wasn't." she answered, she told one of her co-workers who heard the little conversation that her and Sanosuke had just had that she was going on break.
1
"Excuse me Miss," Kenshin called to the waitress that Shura had spoken to before she had left.
"Yes sir?" she answered.
"I don't mean to pry, but was something wrong between Miss Shura and that man over there?" he asked.
"I hope not, all he did was ask her father's name, she asked him why he wanted to know and he asked her if her father was Captain Sagara of the Sakehotii Troop 1 and she acted all surprised at his question and left for her break. Do you need anything else sir?"
"No thank-," Smash! A bowl hit Kenshin in the head and shattered. The restaurant went silent.
"Kenshin, are you ok?" Kaoru asked.
"Hey! Before you go off and talk about politics, apologize to Kenshin!" Yahiko yelled; the young teen stood ready to fight. The three men sitting across from them were arguing about the current government, they had at least three empty sake pitchers on their table, and they had started yelling at each other.
"Why you little twerp! I'm going to teach you to respect your elders!" one of the men yelled, he stepped out of their table area and into the aisle.
"Excuse me sir, this is a peaceful hard-working restaurant so if you could please-. Ah!" the waitress who had spoken was pushed across the room. Luckily for her, Sanosuke caught the young lady before she got hurt.
"Excuse me," Sanosuke said, he stood up, "I don't approve of men pushing people weaker than them around, especially women." he said, Sanosuke turned to the waitress, "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes thank you, but please take your fight outside." the waitress said.
"You're right, we should, I'll be back," he walked towards the door; "if you guys want to fight, I'll be waiting." he walked out.
"You idiot, there are three of us and one of you." one of the men said as they followed Sanosuke out of the restaurant.
"So, I could beat you with one arm." he said.
"Look who's getting cocky."
"Well, it's true; in fact, I bet that I could beat you with one finger."
"Fine then, let's do it." the man said. The man lunged at Sanosuke with his fist. Sanosuke held out his finger and flicked the man in the forehead. Sano hit his mark, and the man went flying back into a wall.
"You won't get away with that!" the man's friend said, he stuck his hand in his shirt and pulled out a knife.
Kenshin appeared from above Sanosuke's head, he landed on the ground in front of Sanosuke.
"Excuse me," Kenshin said, "I don't approve of you having a weapon, when this man has none, so until you learn to fight fairly, I suggest you be on your way." he said.
1
Shura heard the commotion from outside of the restaurant, she wove he way through the crowd until she reached the front. One of the men saw her.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the feisty girl from last night." he said, he looked Shura over. He grabbed Shura violently by the arm. "Well Mr. Swordsman, let's see if you can beat me with my new shield." he said.
"I don't see a need to even lay a finger on you, especially since your 'shield' can do that on her own." Kenshin said, he slid his sword back into it's sheath and walked away.
Before the man could ask what Kenshin had meant, Shura stepped on his foot and flipped him around, the man landed on his back with a loud thud.
A/N: I hope you liked it. And if you didn't like it, well… poo on you! And give me something I can do to change it. I'm always open for ideas! R&R! (flames; errors including grammar, things about characters, suggestions for areas of improving, and well anything else you could possibly think of are all welcome.)
Wala