Chapter 1

Early summer of 1878, the 11th year of the Meiji era…

Himura Kenshin was putting his sakabatou back into its sheath, when the door to the room slid open.

"Kenshin-kun."

Kenshin looked up and smiled at the woman standing at the door. "Yuki-dono."

Curving her lips only slightly in response, said woman spoke in a soft voice. "I knew you would be back on your feet in no time at all, but I certainly didn't expect it to be this soon."

"I'm fine, Yuki-dono," said Kenshin. "Thanks to you, I'm almost fully recovered now."

"Almost. You still have to be careful."

"Yes, I will," Kenshin assured her. "I'm going downstairs to join the others. Are you coming along?"

Yuki nodded and began to head downstairs, followed by Kenshin. At the foot of the stairs, they came face to face with Kamiya Kaoru.

"Kenshin! You're up already! Are you sure it's all right for you to be up?" she asked, concern shown all over her face.

"Yes, it's all right. I'm ok now," Kenshin replied smilingly.

"Yuki-san, are you sure it's all right for him to be up now?" Kaoru asked Yuki.

"He'll be fine," came the reply.

"Besides, with all this noise downstairs, I couldn't sleep anyway," added Kenshin, referring to the 'party' going at full-blast in the room.

Kaoru sighed. "You can say that again. They've been celebrating for 31 days straight. Poor Omasu-san had to apologise to Sae-san everyday for all the trouble they've caused here at the Shirobeko."

Just then, the crowd caught sight of Kenshin and immediately rushed up to him.

"Himura!"

"You're finally up!"

"Come on! Give us a tune!"

"Yeah, sing us a song!"

Before Kenshin could react, another voice rang out in the room, louder than the rest combined.

"WHERE IS AOSHI-SAMA!" Makimachi Misao shouted at the top of her lungs.

While the others cringed, Yuki looked indifferent as she said, "I think Aoshi-kun is at the temple."

"Eh? Again? Since he got better, he hasn't gone anywhere else!" Misao complained.

"Misao, he's had a lot to think about since he got back. Leave him alone for a while," said Okina.

"Do I have to?"

"It's for his sake."

Misao pouted, and then quickly brightened up. She bounded over to Yuki. "Ne, Yuki-san, how about we go to the temple and check on Aoshi-sama? I don't think his wounds are fully healed yet. I want to you take another look at him."

"If you want to see him, you don't have to make up excuses, Misao-dono," said Kenshin.

"Kenshin's right. You can just go see him whenever you like," Kaoru agreed.

"But… but if I go alone, it will seem like I'm disturbing him. If I bring Yuki-san along with me, at least I can say that I'm there for a reason…" Misao trailed off, before looking at Yuki with hope shining brightly in her eyes. "Yuki-san, please… help me this once… please…"

She waited for Yuki to give her answer with bated breath. After what seemed like eternity, Yuki finally responded with the tiniest of smiles and said, "I'll get my medicine chest."

She disappeared for a moment, before reappearing with a chest in her hands. Then, after bowing to Kenshin and Kaoru, she walked out of the Shirobeko with Misao.

As soon as they were gone, Kaoru and Kenshin joined the others at the table, where Okina and his Oniwabanshuu comrades (with the exception of one Omasu) were singing to their hearts content. Sagara Sanosuke and Myojin Yahiko were eating and drinking for all its worth, while Takani Megumi sat quietly in a corner, sipping from her cup of tea.

"You know Kenshin, it's been a month since we first met Yuki-san, and I've never seen her smile even once, unless you want to count those tight-lipped, tiny smiles she gives us once in a while," Kaoru commented.

Sanosuke, who was trying to eat with his left hand holding the chopsticks, overheard what she'd said. "At least she looks kind and gentle, which is how she is anyway, unlike Aoshi, who looks exactly like how he really is, that is cold to the core."

"Well, yes, but still…"

"I've never seen her take off her gloves, have you?" asked Yahiko, his mouth stuffed with food.

"No, I haven't. Not even when she goes to bed," said Kaoru, shaking her head. "At first, I thought it was for hygiene purposes, since she's treating Kenshin's wounds and all, but I don't think that's the case."

"No it's not," said Megumi, putting down her cup. "The gloves she wore when treating injuries and wounds were made out of rubber, meant to be thrown away after use, but the ones which she wears at all times are made out of pure cotton and silk."

Yahiko scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…I wonder why she wouldn't take them off."

"It doesn't matter. Everybody has their own reasons as to why they do certain things," said Kenshin.

Kaoru nodded her head in agreement. "I agree. It doesn't matter that she doesn't smile or talk much. If it wasn't for her, Kenshin may not have recovered so quickly."

-Flashback-

"Kenshin! Kenshin!"

Kaoru's voice was laced with worry and panic, as she called again and again at the man lying on the futon, who was covered with blood from the multiple wounds on his body.

"It's no use, Jo-chan. I've been calling him all the way here. He's passed out for good this time, having lost too much blood. You'd better get a doctor to see him quick," said Sanosuke from behind. His own right hand was so bloodied that the fingers looked like they were going to come off soon.

"Where are Kuro and Shiro? They've been gone for so long!" said Misao impatiently. She looked at Shinomori Aoshi, who was sitting in a corner of the room, his eyes closed. "Aoshi-sama, are you feeling alright?"

"Aa," came the short reply.

Just then, they heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer towards the room. The door slid open, and two tall young men walked in.

"Shiro, Kuro, you're back! Where's the doctor?" Misao asked quickly.

Kuro and Shiro moved aside to reveal a woman, who bowed before them.

"Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Shiroino Yuki desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu," she said in a clear, soft voice, before straightening up again.

She looked in her early twenties, and was dressed in a white kimono. Her black hair was tied into a braid which was then put together at the back of her head with a white ribbon. Her ghostly pale complexion only served to make her black eyes look darker than it really was.

"Shiroino-sensei, please take a look at Kenshin. He's badly hurt and has lost a lot of blood," Kaoru pleaded.

Taking a quick glance around the room, the woman stepped inside and knelt down beside Kenshin, putting down the medicine chest she had brought with her. Then, she briskly gave instructions to Kaoru and those who were not injured so that they could help her in her work.

It took her almost a whole day to tend to Kenshin before she could move on to the other injured people, namely Sanosuke and Aoshi. Even after Megumi arrived from Tokyo, she insisted on staying at the Shirobeko to help watch over Kenshin and attend to the others.

-End of flashback-

Megumi flipped her hair to the back. "I must say that her skills and knowledge in medicine are quite good. Not surprising though. From what she once told me, her father was a doctor, and it seems that he had learned both the eastern and western ways of medicine in a foreign country, before coming back here to Japan and opened his own clinic. I guess she learned everything from him."

"I'm not saying that you wouldn't have been able to do the same, Megumi-san," Kaoru said quickly. "It's just that, when Kenshin returned from the fight that day, he was in such a state that, for a moment, I thought he was going to die for sure, and you couldn't be here right away-"

"I know, I know. I understand, you silly girl," Megumi cut her off. "Do I look like the kind of person who would get angry over petty little things like this?"

"Actually, you do," said Sanosuke, and avoided the flying cup just in time as it wheezed past his head and hit the wall behind him, shattering into tiny pieces.

"What else did she tell you, Megumi-san?" asked Kaoru.

"Other than the fact that she was the only child in the family and her parents died many years ago, not much I'm afraid. She doesn't speak unless spoken to, and even then, she doesn't explain more than necessary."

"She's one weird girl, that's what I can tell you," said Sanosuke. "Her clothes are always white or light yellow in colour, even her gloves and the ribbon on her hair. It's bad enough that she looks so pale. Well, at least, her face looks pale. There is no way to tell if the rest of the skin on her body are also ghostly pale, since she's covered from head to toe, or rather, from neck to toe. Not an inch of her skin is ever exposed, not even her hands. It's as if she's trying to hide something."

"So what if she's trying to hide something? Everybody's entitled to a secret of their own. Right, Kenshin?" said Yahiko.

"Right," Kenshin replied.

"Besides, why do you want to know if the rest of the skin on her body looks pale or not? What exactly do you have in mind, Sanosuke?" Kaoru teased.

"Don't talk nonsense, Jo-chan."

"Oh, is that a blush I see on your face, Sanosuke?"

"I said don't talk nonsense!"

"Ooh… it is! Sanosuke's blushing!"

"I'm not! Stop talking nonsense!"

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are!"

"NO I'M NOT! ARGH! STOP TALKING NONSENSE!"

-

On the way to the temple…

"So, once we reach the temple, you'll tell Aoshi-sama that you have to check him one last time to make sure his injuries are properly healed, and I'll say that I've decided to come along and help. Hopefully, Aoshi-sama will not ask too many questions and let you tend to him, and then I'll…"

5 minutes had passed since they left the Shirobeko for the temple, and for 5 minutes, Misao had been true to her nature, chattering gaily non-stop. It didn't seem to bother her that she was practically talking to herself, as Yuki too had been true to her own nature and never uttered a word or gave any response to Misao. In fact, Misao was so caught up in her own chattering that she didn't realise that they were already approaching the temple gates.

"We're here," Yuki announced, loud enough for Misao to stop talking and look up.

"Oh yeah! Hahaha! Gomen, I didn't realise we've already arrived," said Misao, rubbing the back of her head and laughing embarrassedly.

Wordlessly, Yuki walked into the temple, leaving Misao behind. Instead of going after her, Misao just stood still and silently appraised the older girl.

She watched as Yuki stopped walking, turned around and looked at her. "Misao-chan, what's wrong?"

"Ah… nothing," said Misao. "Nothing really."

Yuki regarded her for a moment, causing Misao to break out in cold sweat.

"Come along then. Your Aoshi-sama is waiting," Yuki finally said, a small smile gracing her lips. Misao smiled back and ran up to Yuki, so that the two of them were walking alongside each other again.

I wonder if Aoshi-sama will be angry with us for disturbing him, she thought to herself. Then again, he's never been angry with me before. Besides, Yuki-san is with me.

She stole a glance at the young woman beside her.

I don't know why, but somehow, I don't think Aoshi-sama will be angry when he sees Yuki-san…

Tbc...

-

So what do you think of the story so far? Should I continue? This is my first RK fic, so I guess there should be mistakes along the way. Do give me your opinions. Thanks for reading anyway. )