Disclaimer: I do not own La Corda d'Oro or its characters Yuki Kure does.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming!!!!

Chapter 3

"The fee to get to Kyoto is 2,000 yen for women." The man told Kahoko.

Kahoko took out her bag of money from inside her kimono and she pulled out the 2,000 yen handing it to the man. The man took the money placing it in a bag he had tied to his waist. He nodded his head to Kahoko to get in the carriage. Kahoko went in and got the seat at the edge. Thankful the carriage was spacious since so many people were going to Kyoto. Kahoko placed her suitcase in between her feet to make sure it didn't move across the carriage during the journey.

Kahoko looked around at the people that were inside the carriage. Mostly they were young women about the same age as her; they talked about finding jobs in Kyoto. The few men who were on the carriage seemed to be happy to be surrounded by young beautiful women because smiles were plaster on their faces. Kahoko leaned back in her seat feeling tired from all the running she had done. She gazed out of the window feeling nervous that at any minute she would see her parents approaching, the carriage had not moved yet because a few more people appeared requesting to ride too.

'Come on, come on please move already. 'Kahoko thought desperately feeling like it was taking an eternity for the people to pay and get on. When at last no more people came to ride the carriage, the man in charge of the carriage closed the door and went to the front of the carriage to drive. The carriage began to move rapidly making Kahoko glad to at last leave her home behind.

Trees became blurred by how fast the carriage was moving. Kahoko found herself relaxing with each distance they put from her home knowing her parents would not be able to catch up to them. Kahoko's mind drifted over the upcoming events as she continued to gaze out of the window. 'I wonder how Kyoto looks. I have to find a place to stay but it can't be anywhere expensive because I don't have much money. I wonder if I will meet the Tsukimoris and if I do will they know who I am.'

"Hey you in the corner, what are you going to do in Kyoto?" A woman's voice pierced through Kahoko's chain of thoughts.

Kahoko turned to look at who asked her, she saw a young woman with short brown hair looking at her from the other side of the carriage. Everyone else's eyes were on her as well making her blush at all the attention she was receiving. She was hoping they wouldn't ask her anything but it seemed like she had to talk. Hopefully they wouldn't know who she was, she rarely went out in public and she did not give performances in front of everyone like her brother so they shouldn't know who she was.

"Um, I'm going to look for a job." Kahoko answered at last thinking of the same excuses the other girls mentioned.

"What kind of job?" The girl persisted.

"A waitress maybe, to tell the truth I'm not sure yet." Kahoko replied feeling uncomfortable from the questions, hoping this was the last one.

"I see. So this trip must have been a spur of the moment thing for you then."

Kahoko gulped, how could this girl guess right? Feeling even more uncomfortable than before Kahoko did her best not to seem faze at the girl's assumptions. The girl continued to stare at her, looking like she was going to ask something else but another girl started talking getting her attention. Kahoko sighed and leaned back in the seat closing her eyes trying to fall asleep.

The seats of the carriage were cushioned but still lacked the softness required to protect the passengers from occasional bumps the carriage encountered.

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After the carriage stopped a dozen times to give the passengers a break they were at last in Kyoto. The carriage stopped at the entrance of the town. The carriage driver opened the door for the passengers. Kahoko grabbed her luggage and got down from the carriage her legs felt like jelly, they were sore from the long ride as was the rest of her body.

Kahoko walked into the town glancing around like a child taking it all in. She couldn't believe she was actually standing in Kyoto, the Kyoto! Many people were walking around Kyoto either shopping at the small shops set up at the side of the road or just looking around with friends. This town was bigger than the town next to her home where she usually went with her friends.

'Where to go first?' Kahoko thought then her stomach starting growling, 'I guess I should find a restaurant first.'

With her mind set to find a non expensive restaurant Kahoko began to walk around the town surveying around for a restaurant sign. The road ahead of her held a cluster of people blocking her way; it seemed a local merchant had something interesting attracting a lot of customers so Kahoko had to find another way. Kahoko turned to the left seeing it was the only available opening to go. It turned out it was a long narrow alley where there was no one around. Kahoko's heart began to beat faster, she was starting to become frighten she wanted to hurry and get out of there as fast as she could. When finally it was the end of the alley she came upon a group of shady men.

The men were in a circle talking, at their waists she saw swords hanging there. Kahoko walked around them trying not to make a sound so they wouldn't notice her but one of them saw her.

"Hey look Kouji, it's a girl. She's looks like she is alone." The man who spotted her said making all the other guys turn their attentions to her. Kahoko froze on the spot not knowing what to do.

"You're right, she's alone. What do you say we take her to boss Naka, I'm sure he'll reward us." Another man said heading towards her. "Hey girl come with us quietly now."

The rest of the men followed his example and began to walk towards her. Kahoko no longer stood frozen, she ran to the side avoiding their outstretched hands as she passed them. Kahoko could hear them running after her, they were shouting at her to stop but she ran faster, there was no way she was going to stop. Kahoko saw that the road split into two and she decided to take the road to the right. Kahoko was running out of breath, her sides ache from all the running, what she needed was a place to hide. The men were lagging behind her so she had time to hide. 'But where? 'Spotting a pair of large barrels leaning next to the wall Kahoko hid behind them.

A minute later the men appeared looking out of breathe, they stopped to catch their breath looking around the alley for her. Kahoko tried to make herself as small as possible to avoid being discover.

"Damn she's fast; she must've run all the way to town by now."

"Or maybe she went the other way. I suggest we split up to find her."

"Yeah, we'll go the other way and you guys continue this way when you find her take her to the hideout. Don't do anything to hurt her, you got that Renji."

"I got it."

Hearing the men run in two different directions Kahoko remained hidden refusing to come out of her hiding spot just yet even though it sounded like the men were gone. Kahoko didn't want to move from her spot until a plan came up, what could she do? 'I should head back the way I came that way they won't see me.' Liking the plan she peered around the barrels to make certain no one was lingering. Seeing no one she got up from her hiding spot she looked both ways straining to listen to any noise, no one was around. She headed back only to see one of the men standing there. He had his back to her so he didn't see her; she quickly made her way back deciding to take her chances the other way. She ran down the deserted alley trying to find another way out. The alley only continued on without any other paths.

Seeing the way out up ahead she slowed down to catch her breath and to listen for the other group of men. She approached the opening with caution looking both ways to see if the men were lingering there but no one was there. To the right she saw a huge fancy hotel there not even thinking twice she ran there to take shelter.

Unfortunately she heard a man shouting that he spotted her from down the alley. She ran faster to the hotel reaching it within a minute. She slid the door open and ran inside disregarding taking off her sandals before entering. There was a girl about her age with long light brown hair and a middle age man with similar long hair as the girl smoking a pipe at the front desk glancing in her direction, surprise etched in their faces at see her running towards them.

"Can I help you, Miss?" The guy asked concern evident in his voice.

Kahoko stopped in front of the desk managing to say, "Can I hide in one of your rooms there are some guys after me."

"Sure, I'll take you to one of the rooms. Follow me quickly." The girl said taking hold of Kahoko's arm, pulling her up the stairs that was located to the right of the desk.

The upstairs had a long hallway with many rooms dotting it, the girl continued to drag Kahoko down the hall until she stopped at a door in the center of the hall. The room number was 15, the girl let Kahoko's arm go to pull out a ring of keys which had tons of keys attached to it. She quickly found the key she wanted and put it in the door knob, opening it. She pushed Kahoko inside the room telling her, "Don't worry; my father will get rid of the guys who are chasing you. Just stay here I will go check what is happening then I will come back to tell you."

Kahoko nodded at the girl feeling exhausted she couldn't really talk right now. The girl closed the door to the room leaving her alone in the room. The room was large, with a long table in the center a futon was laid out at the side. A chest leans against the wall holding a mirror. Two candle stands stood next to either side of the chest unlit at the moment for enough light streamed in from the window above the futon. Feeling anxious Kahoko could not stay still she saw two doors were ahead of her which she went to, she opened the door to the left to see a wooden tub inside the room. She closed the door and opened the other door to see it was a balcony. Closing the door she went to sit on the futon trying to stop fidgeting. She never expected to be chase by guys; nothing like this has ever happened maybe running away from home was not a good idea. If those guys had caught her they would have no doubt done something despicable to her. Shuddering from the thought she laid down hugging her luggage to her feeling scared.

A knock sounded at the door making her sit up, the voice of the girl drifted through the door. "It's alright now, Miss. My father sent them away telling them your husband was here."

Shock at what the girl just said, Kahoko went to the door to open it seeing the girl smiling at her cheerfully. "Um, I'm grateful to you and your father but why did your father use that excuse?"

"It seemed it was the only to get rid of them. You see they saw you alone and assumed you had no one which is not good so they had to be scare into thinking you had a strong husband who might kill them if they lay a hand on you." The girl replied.

"Well it makes senses. I guess it's safe to leave now."

"Why don't you stay the night, this room is available. It's getting late anyways you shouldn't go you might run into those guys again."

"You're right, how much does it cost to stay the night?"

"It's 20,000 yen for one night; it includes dinner, a bath, and breakfast in the morning."

"20,000 yen?!" Kahoko exclaimed she never believed staying for one night at a hotel would be so much.

"Well we are a luxurious hotel but if it is too much for you we could lower it however you can't say anything to the other customers."

"No, its fine I can pay the 20,000 yen its just I didn't expect that amount is all. I'll be down with the money soon."

"Alright, I go tell my father. By the way my name is Nami Kanazawa."

"My name is Kahoko H…" Kahoko began to say but stop herself from saying Hino, she couldn't say her name to her, and she had to come up with another name. "Hayashi."

"You must be starving, Hayashi-san I'll get dinner ready." Nami said going back down the hall to the front of the hotel.

Kahoko closed the door breathing a sigh of relief that she was able to come up with a last name. If she said her real last name no doubt there would be a lot of questions. She pulled out her bag of money from her kimono. Kahoko counted the money, she had the 20,000 yen to pay for the one night but it looked like she would not be able to stay another night here much less buy many things, she would have to be tight with her money. 'What to do now? I can't ask them to lower the price since they did save me from those thugs. There's no point in worrying over that now, I'm hungry.'

Kahoko went out of the room to the front desk, she saw Nami's father at the counter arranging papers. He looked up at her giving her a friendly smile. "You must be famish Miss Hayashi, don't worry Nami will have dinner done in no time."

Kahoko went up to the counter placing the money down on the desk. "Thank you for helping me, I really do appreciate it. I will stay for one night. I will go rest in my room just call me when dinner is ready."

"Sure, have a good rest Hayashi-san."

Kahoko made her way back to her room feeling so sleepy she wanted nothing more than to sleep. She went into her room and laid down on the futon falling asleep in an instant.

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Kahoko awoken later and saw that the candles were lit, lighting the room so she could see. She saw a tray on the table cover with a cloth; a note was attached to the cloth. Kahoko went to the table, picking up the note to read it, "You were sleeping so soundly I did not wish to disturb you so I set your dinner here. Hopefully it still tastes good even though it's cold. I also filled the tub with water if you wish to take a bath.-Nami"

Kahoko set the note to the side and pulled the cloth off to see the food. It was tempura, tofu, bread, rice, and a glass of green tea. Kahoko could help but gobble the food down in a rush since she was starving it was still delicious, she felt a bit energize. After finishing the food she went to her suitcase picking it up and carrying it to the bathroom deciding to take a bath. She set out a clean pair of undergarments on the table that was next to the tub along with her kimono with the swirl of colors of purple and red.

Kahoko took off her kimono along with her undergarments folding them neatly on a stool set next to the tub. She went into the water feeling a chill pass through her at the coldness of the water. She used the soap that she found on the table by the tub. When she was done bathing she got out of the tub, she used a white towel that was on the table to dry off. Kahoko quickly put on the clothes she set out feeling cold. She decided to wash her light red kimono and undergarments in the bath water to have them clean. The last thing Kahoko did before she left the room was hang the wet clothes on a wire that hung over head. Kahoko picked up her suitcase and went back to the other room; she placed her suitcase on the futon and took out her brush to brush her hair. Kahoko went back to sleep after brushing her hair, feeling like tomorrow would be a trying day.

Author's Note: I was going to add more to this chapter but it would've been too long. Look forward to the next chapter because guess who Kahoko will meet…. Review so I can hurry and post the next chapter for ya!!!!