2007
Kaoru had always hated storms. The only thing she disliked more was driving during one. The facts that it was at night and she was lost only made it worse.
She had been out visiting her grandparents, who owned a small farm outside of Tokyo. On her way home, the storm had come out of nowhere, distracting her into missing her exit on the highway. The rain came down in sheets, making it impossible to see more than about ten yards, and the thunder drowned out even her own thoughts. Kaoru was just about to pull over and get out her maps when a bolt of lightning struck a tree next to the road, causing it to burst instantly into flame. Cursing, she swerved out of the way and kept going.
'Maybe I'll find a rest stop somewhere up the road,' she thought hopefully.
1887
Kenshin, huddled under a bush by the side of the road, shivered and pushed his dripping bangs out of his eyes. He had started running when the storm hit, hoping to find some sort of shelter before it got too bad. But he was still four days' walking distance outside of Tokyo, and the area was fairly deserted. The bush was the best he could do, but he would have been glad for a fire, which the sheets of rain prevented.
Suddenly, lightning struck a tree next to the bush, and Kenshin leaped out of the way to avoid a burning branch. Sighing, he decided to keep going.
'At least walking will help me stay a bit warmer,' he thought as he shouldered his now-soaked bundle once more.
2007
Kaoru was scared. She had no idea where she was, there had been no rest stops or signs for miles, and – she really hoped it was her imagination – the lightning seemed to be striking closer and closer to her every time.
Also, she was beginning to see things that weren't there: a cottage built in a style that hadn't been used for centuries, stone markers by the side of the road, slight differences in the curves of the highway …
She shook her head and bit down hard on her lower lip, trying to focus before she crashed the car.
The three consecutive bolts of lightning that hit the road directly in front of her, however, had no such qualms.
Kaoru screamed and threw up her hands to shield her face as the overwhelming heat melted the windshield right in front of her. Choking on the thick, black smoke from the burning rubber of her wasted tires, she was blind to the world shattering and re-forming around her car. But when her back tires, still spinning, propelled her off the suddenly dirt road and into the woods that were now much thicker than they had been, she opened her eyes, screamed again, and slammed on the brakes.
A huge, ancient pine tree arrested her forward progress with a crunch of metal and the soft woomph of the airbags. Kaoru sat with her head resting against the white-covered steering wheel, listening to the rain fall on the car roof as everything slowly faded to black.
1887
Kenshin was getting worried. It wasn't because he was cold and wet and hungry, it wasn't because every so often he almost lost his footing in a puddle every so often, and it wasn't because he was soaked to the skin and shivering. No, it was because -- he thought -- his mind was playing tricks on him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kenshin was beginning to see things, strange things that were not really there. Things like great big carriages of metal that had no horses, zooming past him at impossible speeds sometimes startled him off the road.
But the strangest thing of all was the three consecutive lightning strikes a few yards away from him, close to a bend in the road. Suddenly, there was a loud bang as another large, metal carriage appeared on the road. Screams of horror rent the air, and an other-worldly roar, followed by an inhuman screeching as the thing careened off the road and collided with a large old pine tree.
Kenshin blinked. Once, twice, and a third time as he tried to piece together what had just happened. Finally, it kicked in that someone had been screaming in terror a moment ago, and he ran to the site of the crash.
There was a girl in the front. Her head rested against a large wheel in front of her, which was covered in some sort of white fabric. She seemed to be uninjured, but he couldn't see very much through the glass. He rapped on it with the back of his knuckles, hoping she'd wake up. And, after a few minutes, she did. Bleary blue eyes blinked at him as she brushed a few sable strands out of her face.
She put her hand on the wall below the window, and Kenshin stepped back as a section of the wall swung outward. With a click and a soft hissing, the grey straps that had crossed her torso and waist released and retracted into the wall. Twisting, she slid off the seat until her feet touched the forest floor. But when she tried to stand up, her knees buckled. Kenshin caught her before she could fall very far, cupping her elbows in both hands.
"Daijobu ka?" he asked, noting the many small lacerations on her forearms. She nodded, blinking a few times. "Did you hit your head?" he asked insistently, trying to peer under her bangs for any bumps or bruises.
"No, I'm fine, akage-san," she finally said, gently but firmly removing his hands from her person. "I just blacked out when my car crashed. Can you tell me where we are?"
'"Akage-san"?' Kenshin wondered as she turned to survey the damage. He gave a mental shrug, then set about sizing up this girl. She was pretty enough, he supposed: long black hair, bright blue eyes, and a slim physique that was shown off to no small advantage by her … well, Kenshin could only assume they were Western clothes. She moved, despite her shakiness, with a grace that Kenshin guessed to be born of dance – until she pulled a bokken out of the car.
"You practice kenjutsu?" Kenshin asked, surprised. The girl nodded. "Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu," she answered. "My great-great grandfather, Kamiya Koshijirou, started it at the beginning of the Meiji Restoration." Kenshin blinked in surprise.
"Sumimasen, Kamiya-dono, but sessha doesn't think that is possible," he said. The girl turned to look at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Kenshin held up his empty hands placatingly. "Sessha isn't refuting your claim to a family style," he began, "but think about it. If your great-great grandfather started it only eleven years ago –"
"Eleven years ago?" she interrupted. "Iyé, I said at the beginning of the Meiji Era!" Kenshin blinked at her again. "The Meiji Era started eleven years ago, Kamiya-dono."
"Nani?? No! You're joking, right?" she exclaimed. Kenshin shook his head slowly. "Sessha does not jest, Kamiya-dono." He was a bit shocked when her knees gave out again and she sat down hard on the wet loam.
"Eighteen eighty-seven," he heard her mutter. "That'd be, what, some one hundred and twenty years?" Kenshin's mind raced as he ran through the mental math. "Oro!" he exclaimed. "Two thousand and seven?"
"Aa," The girl on the ground answered. "That's when I'm from." She sighed. "But I don't know what I'm going to do now! I have no idea how I got here, and so no idea how to get home!" She sounded as though she was going to burst into tears. On impulse, Kenshin crouched beside her and gently put his hand on her shoulder.
"What's your name?" he asked softly.
"Kamiya Kaoru," she answered, sniffing. "Well, Kaoru-dono, would you mind accompanying sessha into Tokyo? There you may find a job and lodging until you find a way to return home." Kaoru nodded thoughtfully. "How far are we from Tokyo?" she asked, standing up.
"About four days' walk," Kenshin answered as he followed suit.
"Too bad my car's trashed …" Kaoru said mournfully. "We could've made it there in a quarter of the time!"
"Honto?" Kenshin asked as she opened the door behind the one she had first stumbled out of. "Yeah," Kaoru answered. "Too bad they won't be invented for another twenty or thirty years … and available here for another forty … and there's the little fact that they pollute the atmosphere like crazy …" she trailed off as she bent over to get something off the floor, and Kenshin found himself looking in the other direction to avoid staring at her derrière.
"Alright, let's go!" Kaoru said enthusiastically as she donned backpack and raincoat. Kenshin found himself smiling as they set out back towards the road, following the trail her car had carved through the woods.
Translations
Daijobu ka?: Are you all right?
akage-san: mister redhead
bokken: wooden practice sword
Sumimasen: I'm sorry
sessha: "this unworthy one"
Iyé: no
Nani: what
Aa: yes (informal)
Honto: really