Chapter 2

Ghosts of the Past

In the small parlour, Yumiko and Kenshin quietly sat facing each other. Kaoru had come he served the tea to their guest and then quietly left her husband and that strange woman alone. She had wanted to eavesdrop, but her five-year-old son wasn't exactly inconspicuous. Outside, the sun was now hidden behind dark grey storm clouds. A few drops were falling here and there but it was as if the sky was holding back, waiting for the couple in the room to start talking.

Kenshin kept staring at his knees. His throat was parched but he didn't dare take his tea cup. He didn't want to show her the trembling of his hands. Seeing here standing there had been like being punched the stomach.

Yumiko's whole body was shivering. She shouldn't have come here. It was all a bad idea. The past was meant to stay behind. Why bring it back? But this silence was like torture. Her job had been to talk to people, not stare at the straw mats like this.

"You look great."

"I thought you were dead," blurted the samurai.

Yumiko's voice was lost in Kenshin strong words. She raised her eyes to see that he was intently looking at her. She took a deep breath; there was an opening she could surely use.

"I... I almost did. When the eastern area of Shimabara caught fire, our okiya burned to the ground."

She paused, the memories of that terrible night washing over her. She had not talked about this in years.

"That night, I had a fight with Kinu-chan. You remember, Kinu-chan?"

"She always wore that little bell in her hair," said the man in a soft voice.

"Yes, you're right. Well that night we had a fight. I can't even remember what it was about. She was such a sweet thing, the whole thing was probably my fault. So I went out in the garden to avoid sharing my room with her. It was a hot July night. I'm sure you remember that summer. It was so hot. As if the gods had wanted Man to stop this senseless fighting. So I feel asleep next to the ginkgo tree. When I woke up an hour later, the house was..."

Yumiko stopped. The images of her house ablaze were dancing vividly in front of her. She hadn't spoken of this in such a long time. The last time was... She didn't want to think about it. She did not need any more sadness. Taking a deep breath, she tried to stop the tears she felt coming. In front of her, Himura had taken his cup, his hands trembling slightly. She took hers, but instead of drinking from it, warmed her fingers on it.

"The main section of the house was in flames. It was so hot I could not look directly at it for fear that my face would melt. Getting as close as I could, I started calling out Kinu's name as well as the other girls' names. The only answer I got was the roaring of the fire and the sound of the windows exploding under the heat. I was walking around the house trying to find a safe spot to go back inside when I heard Kinu-chan's voice. She was stuck on the second floor, calling desperately for help. Without hesitation, I rushed inside the house. The place was a real inferno, with pieces of burning wood falling like an avalanche. The creaking was so loud, the smoke so thick that I soon lost all sense of direction and inadvertently ended up getting out of the house, instead of deeper inside. By then, the old man from the kimono shop next door had come to help us. I am told he put out the fire that was burning my kimono. I don't remember things clearly after that. Only that my leg was badly burnt and that I would never dance again."

As her story ended, the rain started to fall heavily in the courtyard, as if to put off the fire of her memories. Distractedly, she reached for her sleeve to grab her handkerchief. Her movement was interrupted by Kenshin who presented her with one of his own. She softly apologized and dabbed her cheeks.

"Everyone died. All of them, except for me. Everything was gone. The house, the kimono and even the money. I had nothing left."

She took a sip of tea and put the cup back in front of her. She had to tell him. Now was the time. She looked up, plunging her deep grey eyes in his purple gaze.

"I... I tried to find you."

He looked surprised. It hurt her a little.

"I thought that if I found you, maybe you would be able to help me get some money. I know, it's ridiculous. You never gave me reasons to think you had access to any money. But I was desperate. Everyone I knew had either died or lost everything in that fire. You were my only hope."

She couldn't read Himura's face. He looked far away, lost in his thoughts.

"As you know I never found you. The fighting intensified and my condition did not give me the liberty of walking around in the midst of a civil war."

As she said those words, she instinctively brought her hands to her belly. The gesture was not lost on Kenshin whose eyes suddenly became round with surprise.

"Yumiko-dono, you..."

Kenshin was interrupted by Kenji who walked in the room, jumped on his father's lap and hugged him. Kenshin hugged him back, his eyes on his long lost friend. Yumiko looked away. Dinner was ready.