Disclaimer : RK is not mine.
Misao looks over at the author and exclaims: More scenes of my Aoshi-sama and me!
Aoshi: ….
Soujiro: Let the author write what she wants.
Soujiro winks at the author and whispers into her ear: More scenes of Kaoru and me!
Kaoru blushes.
Kenshin becomes watery-eyed and Sdfaced: Author-dono, please let me find Kaoru-dono now!
Author looks at everyone and laughs evilly.
All the RK characters cower in fear.
Author's Note: Sorry for the long delays in between each chapter. Thanks for all those readers who have continued to stay with this story ^_^.
Special Thanks to: Lila Paige Rose, kagome-sits-inuyasha, and MissBehavin for adding me to your favorite author's list! =D You don't know what a privilege that is for me ^_^
Off-topic Note: If you are able to, go watch Cirque du Soleil's "VAREKAI!" Which is French for 'wherever'. It is such an awesome show! A beautiful display of sheer strength, coordination, grace, and music. I absolutely loved it and found myself on the edge of my seat the entire time. Those people have such amazing talent!
~ A Memory Forgotten ~
Chapter 23
The couple continued to walk on as the sun began to dip beneath the mountains.
*COUGH, COUGH
Kaoru stopped in her tracks and turned towards the sound. She saw there by the side of a lake, a middle aged man sitting with his back to the tree. She could not make out his features clearly because of the shadow from the tree.
*COUGH, COUGH
Feeling sympathy for the man, she started to walk over to him. Soujiro enclosed his hand over her wrist, as his eyes questioned what she was doing. Kaoru turned around towards him and smiled. She lightly patted his hand to reassure him.
*COUGH, COUGH
Kaoru reached the area and could make out the man's figure more clearly. He had dark black tresses with traces of gray hair and a medium-tall statured body. The man's fine muscles were outlined underneath the dark blue and black layers of cloth he wore. Adorning his ear, was a small gold hoop earring.
*COUGH, COUGH
His body seemed to double over and shake each time he coughed. As she approached him, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a simple white handkerchief. Kaoru crouched down next to the man and handed it to him. The man's head slowly pulled up as he accepted the gesture of kindness in sincere gratitude. At that moment, startled blue eyes met her own.
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Saitou sat lazily in one of the chairs near the window taking a long puff of his cigarette. He looked outside and saw the red-headed figure as he took long, purposeful strides towards the entrance of the building. Kenshin's head was hung low and his back slumped over a little bit. Saitou then noticed the other two trail not so far behind him. The cop smirked, the baka roosterhead and the kid.
He gave a slight nod to his wife, who was in the other room, indicating the man's arrival and let his gaze travel over to the door as he waited for Battousai to enter.
Kenshin burst through the door, anger quietly seething throughout his body. He had expected that Saitou would journey to Shanghai, but had not thought that Saitou would contact him so quickly.
"Saitou . ." Kenshin greeted in a menacing voice.
"When the hell did you get here, Saitou?" Sanosuke bellowed as he thrashed his way through the door. "I thought you said that the Tokyo police force was toooo good to start out a search for Jou-chan," he exclaimed in an exaggerating tone as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave a grunt. His eyes glared at the police man's sitting figure in the chair.
Saitou took a puff of his cigarette and glanced over to the ex-fighter nonchalantly then turned his attention to the crimson-haired man. "Nice to see you, too Battousai," he said with a small smirk adorned on his thin face. Kenshin's eyes glared amber at the man. Saitou continued without regard as he took a drag of his cigarette, "The reason I called you here is because it seems that my wife had an unexpected meeting with Kamiya yesterday."
Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sanosuke sucked in their breath at Saitou's meaningful words. Their hearts became elated at the fact that she was there and someone had spotted her. Saitou took another puff of his cigarette before he began once again.
"Where is she now?" Sanosuke asked hurriedly.
"Is she okay?" Yahiko questioned impatiently right after Sano.
Saitou lazily dropped his arm onto the chair and tapped the cigarette gently. "My wife said that she seemed to be just fine."
Kenshin's breathing relaxed when he heard that Kaoru was okay. "Just fine, Saitou?," the man said sternly with his eyes narrowed.
The police officer smirked and replied, "Yes, quite fine."
"What happened? Was there anyone with her?" Sanosuke asked.
"Was it Tenken?" Yahiko stammered.
Saitou looked at the two excited figures warily and replied, "The description of the man that my wife has given me does match that of Tenken's."
At that moment, a woman clad in a deep purple kimono came into the room. Her hair was put up in an elaborate bun adorned with beautiful pins. Yahiko and Sanosuke's mouths dropped open at the woman's sheer elegance and beauty. She gave a small bow towards the guests in the room and let her eyes rest on Kenshin.
"Nice to finally meet you, Himura-san. My husband has told me much about you and your current plight."
Sanosuke put a hand over his mouth as he whispered to Yahiko who was at his side, "Did she say husband?" Yahiko nodded in response.
The ex-street fighter stood there stunned. Wife? Matte! That would mean . . . that would mean. Sanosuke slowly looked over to Saitou who was at the moment smoking a cigarette in the corner of his eyes. Then he turned his gaze to the woman in the room. No way! No fucking way!
Kenshin nodded in response and replied, "Hai, Saitou Tokio-dono. Any information you could give us about Kaoru-dono would mean a lot to us right now." (A/N: Kenshin knows the name of Saitou's wife because Saitou told him in the Kyoto Arc.)
THUD!
Everyone turned their heads and found Sanosuke's body twitching on the floor. Saitou's wife?!?! Saitou's wife?!?!?!, Sano screamed in his head. Twitch twitch.
Tokio coughed politely and all attention was focused on her once again. "I met your Kaoru-san yesterday while I was coming back from the market. She had tried to help me when a group of men came and harassed me." Saitou grimaced at his wife's story and Tokio shot him a small smile, which instantly comforted him. "She seemed perfectly healthy and fought very well when she was pitted against the ten or so men that attacked."
Upon hearing the comment, Kenshin clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. What if she got hurt? Damn, if only I was with her!
Tokio noticed Kenshin's sudden flare in ki and said smoothly, "Daijoubu, Himura-san. She came out of the fight without more than a scratch or two." Kenshin's animosity lessened after hearing her affirmation that Kaoru was okay.
"What about the guy who was with her?" Yahiko interjected.
Tokio smiled slightly. "Aa, he was a little taller than Himura-san, dark black hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a blue gi and hakama."
Sanosuke who came out of his momentary coma asked, "That sure sounds like Tenken. What about the creepy smile? Did he have that creepy smile when you saw him?"
She paused in thought as to remember and said, "No, when I saw him he was not smiling. He was actually quite angry at Kaoru for throwing herself into danger like that."
"Che! Ol' busu can handle herself against those thugs," Yahiko commented with a frivolous wave of his hand.
Kenshin sat in the wooden chair while he slowly digested all the information that had been given.
"So Tenken hasn't hurt her or anything?" Sanosuke asked incredulously.
Tokio looked over at the man with a calm demeanor and let out a whisper of a chuckle. "That man hurt your Kaoru-san? From the affection that he had shown her yesterday, I would think that he was her husband or a very dear friend at least."
Sano and Yahiko's jaw dropped open. K—Kaoru and . . Tenken?!?!?! Then Sano inserted with a lot of exclamation, "That creepy freak better not lay a hand on Jou-chan! Or he's gonna get it!" He then took a fist and punched his palm with it for added emphasis.
Saitou gave a broad smirk. "And what can you do about it, ahou? We haven't even found them." Sanosuke's mood quickly dissipated after his comment.
That was when they noticed how quiet and sullen Kenshin had been throughout the entire questioning and looked over to him.
The rurouni's heart had stopped at hearing those words coming out of Tokio's mouth. Her husband . . Kaoru's husband. This was something that he had not taken into consideration. Soujiro falling in love with Kaoru-dono?!?! How could I not think of it before? Any guy could fall in love with her, he thought sadly as he remembered her image practicing with Yahiko.
"Oi Kenshin," Sanosuke started sensing the reason behind Kenshin's solemnity, "Jou-chan wouldn't get hitched with anyone especially when she doesn't remember anything about her past. It's just not her character."
Kenshin looked up at his taller friend and nodded in agreement. The heaviness in his heart lifted a little bit after his friend's words. Yes, Sano's right. I shouldn't think like this. All I should be worried about is finding Kaoru-dono and getting her back home safely.. Then he turned his attention towards Tokio, "Arigato, Tokio-dono. But could you tell us where you last saw her? Do you have any information about where there are staying? Where they are going?"
Tokio nodded sadly. "Sumimasen Himura-san. I don't know any information about her current situation. However, I can tell you that I last saw her somewhere along Nanjing Lu. I hope that can give you a start to look for her whereabouts."
Kenshin stood up and bowed at the elegant woman before him. "Arigato gozaimasu! You don't know how much your help has meant to me."
Tokio smiled affectionately at his display of gratitude. Kaoru-san must be very special to him. "You're welcome, Himura-san. I only wish that I could have had more information for you." Kenshin smiled politely back towards her and left with Yahiko and Sanosuke who followed after him. The woman looked back at their retreating figures. That girl . . she must be some extraordinary woman to be able to tame both the legendary Battousai and Tenken. She inwardly smiled at the thought and looked over to her own husband who was the Mibu's wolf.
"So anata, could you accompany me to see the sites around here?"
Saitou looked over at his wife gently and tossed his cigarette out the window. He bent his arm in a gesture to allow Tokio to loop her own arm through his. She did so and his eyes brightened at the sudden warmth that came along with it.
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QINGHUA TEMPLE
Aoshi and Misao looked up at the giant sign whose letters were embroidered in gold and black background. The shorter girl wiped some sweat from off of her brow. They had to walk up about three hundred or so steps in order to reach that temple located on the mountains.
"Whew! We're finally here," Misao exclaimed.
"Uhn," Aoshi replied in agreement.
The couple looked through the brilliant red wooden pagoda-style entrance into the main courtyard. A monk dressed in yellow with a red tunic adorned with gold seams was slowly making his way towards them. In his hands, he held a string of wooden beads that he kept fingering while mumbling some sort of mantra. Aoshi and Misao politely bowed towards him when he came closer.
"E Mi Tuo fuo," the monk said. (A/N: A religious chant they say.)
"Ni hao," (Hi.) Aoshi said. Misao looked up appreciatively at her taller companion. She didn't know that he could speak Chinese fluently also.
"Ni hao. Ni dao zhe li you shen me mu di?" (Hello. What brings you here?) the monk asked with his hands still in a praying position.
"Wo men xiang zao yi ge peng you. Ta de ming zi shi Higurashi Miroku. Ni ren shi ta ma?" (We're looking for a friend. His name is Higurashi Miroku. Do you know of him?) Aoshi asked.
Misao watched the entire exchange with heated glances in between both the monk and her Aoshi-sama. She was trying to discern whether or not the monk had heard of Higurashi Miroku. He must! The Oniwabanshu here said that Higurashi came to hide in the Qinghua Temple. As Aoshi said the name "Higurashi" she noticed the man's eyes widen a little at the familiarity of the name. But as quickly as it was there, it was gone. She would have missed it if she had blinked even once.
"Dui bu qi, wo bu ren shi ta. Ru guo ni mei you bie de wen ti, wo xiang shui jiao qu. Xie xie," (Sorry, I don't know him. If you don't have any other questions, I plan to go to bed now. Thank you.) the monk replied as he politely bowed and departed.
Misao tugged on Aoshi's sleeve. "He's lying! He knows Higurashi!" she whispered loudly as the monk left within hearing range of the two people.
Aoshi nodded. He had also seen the glint in the monk's eye when he mentioned Higurashi's name. Why would they not tell us of his whereabouts?, Aoshi thought. He looked over to Misao who was getting out a pair of kunai from underneath her garment. The taller man placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to him with a confused look while he shook his head 'no'.
"Why Aoshi-sama? He knows who Higurashi is! We've got to question him! For Kaoru and Himura's sake!" she said with her blue eyes dancing fervently in determination.
Aoshi smiled causing Misao's ki to deflate. She was in complete awe at his unexpected smile.
The man spoke, "Misao, threatening him would do no good. He won't tell us anything. We must wait until the time comes to ask him again."
Misao nodded even though she was a bit lost at his words. They started to descend the mountain as the stars one by one began to appear in the night sky. The emerald-eyed girl took one last glance at the temple as the both of them made their way back into the city to look for Kenshin.
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The monk quickly got up out of his sitting position with help from his shakujou1 after he locked eyes with Kaoru. The girl was startled by his reaction. A moment ago she thought she had seen a hint of recognition in the man's blue eyes.
"Daijoubu houshi-sama?"
The monk politely put his hands together and bowed respectfully towards her. "Daijoubu, arigato miss."
Soujiro watched the interaction between the two with a suspicious eye. He had seen how the monk's eyes had widened upon looking at Kaoru. He seems as though he recognizes her, but how? Kao-chan said that she had never left Japan before then how would that man know her. . .and it seems that . . he also understands Japanese fluently, he thought. Soujiro walked up closer in between the two of them and smiled his stoic smile.
"Konnichiwa, it seems that you can speak Japanese fluently," the boy stated.
The monk's eyes widened a little at the boy's sudden appearance before him and replied, "Yes, I've learned Japanese from the businessmen that come over here once in awhile." The boy smiled suspiciously at his statement, but after seeing how he interacted with Kaoru, believed that the monk was no threat.
Kaoru looked fondly over at the monk.
*COUGH, COUGH
The girl looked worriedly at his trembling figure and it was then that she noticed for the first time how sunken in his cheeks were and quickly took out the man tou2 that she had been saving for a snack later that day. The monk took it gracefully and thanked her wholeheartedly.
A cold breeze blew in the late afternoon sky and the girl shivered a little. She looked over at the man who was quickly finishing the food she had given him. He doesn't seem to have a place to stay. He's already sick, I can't leave him like this when it's getting cold outside. Seeing that the man had no place to stay and the weather was becoming a little chilly she said to him, "Houshi-sama, it seems that you have no place to stay. If you would like, you could stay with us in the inn for tonight."
The monk's heart warmed considerably at her kind request. Soujiro himself was not surprised at her offer because he had grown used to seeing Kaoru's kind actions towards strangers.
"I'm sorry, I cannot impose such a great burden on you kind people," the man in the bluish-black robes started. He then felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to whom it belonged to. He saw another pair of blue eyes look at him cheerfully.
His own eyes looked over at Soujiro with a surprised look. The boy had seen that Kaoru earnestly wanted to help the monk and his actions demonstrated that he too would help him. Soujiro emphasized his agreement with her offer by giving the monk a smile and a nod of the head. The monk smiled brightly at their kindness and finally accepted the offer.
"Arigato gozaimasu," the monk said while bowing down low.
That evening, Soujiro, Kaoru, and the monk reached another inn in the outskirts of Shanghai. The inn was a bit run-down with weeds growing aimlessly in the front. They were allowed to live there because Soujiro and Kaoru had agreed to help out with whatever chores they had in return for letting them spend the night there.
After working on the various chores around the hotel, Kaoru, Soujiro, and the monk were treated to a small meal of pao fan and preserved vegetables3. It was very simple, but it filled them up and gave them enough energy for the work ahead of them. The three of them ate in companionable silence and occasionally Kaoru and Soujiro would comment about what they thought of the city or ask about the mannerisms people had in China. All in all, the conversation was kept very general and no personal questions were raised. Once Kaoru had asked for the monk's name, but he ignored the question and strategically changed the topic without sparking the girl's curiosity at the reason why he wanted his identity to remain unknown. The entire time Soujiro had noticed how the monk would constantly steal glances at the girl whenever she didn't notice and how when Kaoru spoke, the monk would give her his full attention. His eyes, thought Soujiro as he looked up from his bowl of rice towards their new companion, seem to brighten up when he looks at Kao-chan. Then Soujiro himself looked at Kaoru and smiled genuinely at her display of liveliness while she was telling some story about their adventures so far in Shanghai. She has that kind of effect on everyone.
The blue-eyed girl noticed that Soujiro was looking at her and turned towards him with a smile.
The young man's heart warmed at seeing her happy and he returned the smile.
Kaoru saw how Soujiro was smiling and confirmed what she had thought earlier. Sou-chan's smiles are becoming more genuine. He's different from when I first met him. Before he seemed to be a bit confused and unsure of himself, but now he's become more confident of himself when it comes to displaying his emotions. He's not so afraid to show me his feelings. She looked back at the boy as he continued to eat. A piece of rice was stuck to the side of his mouth and she stifled a giggle. Soujiro noticed this and looked up at her confused.
She reached over and gently picked off the piece of white rice near his mouth. Soujiro looked over at the sticky white rice in between her fingers and he smiled. I hope that I get to see more of those smiles, she thought as his face turned a bit red from embarrassment.
Kaoru let out another cheerful laugh.
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That night after Kaoru had fallen asleep, the monk lay stirring on his futon. His thoughts were in disarray. I should leave! I should leave! I can't stay here!, he thought. But then another part of him, his heart, ached at leaving the girl who was asleep in the next room.
But if you stay here, they'll catch her for sure. You'll put her in more of a danger!, he finally sat up at the last thought. That's right, I can't let anything happen to her. He quietly got up and took his shakujou as he crept out of the room. Little did he know that a pair of cobalt blue eyes followed him.
As he reached the dimly lit hall, the monk let out a sigh of regret as he closed his eyes. He glanced over at the door in which the girl was staying within. After so many years .. she's grown up so much. He took a step towards the door. Let me have just one last look at her, onegai. His feet slowly walked over to the room's direction and opened the door a crack.
Kaoru's long raven-black hair was in disarray as she tossed and turned in her sleep. She was having nightmares that night once again. The monk looked in on her figure with watery eyes and walked into the room. He set down his Buddhist staff and crouched next to her sleeping figure. He rested a hand on top of her forehead, which at the moment was laced with beads of sweat. As his the coolness of his hand touched her forehead, Kaoru instantly calmed down and she started to breathe normally. A small smile crept up on her lips subconsciously.
The monk watched her sleeping visage with a wistful look. If only I could stay with you longer like this, my dear Kaoru-chan. His robes felt like a weight and left him rooted on the ground for a while longer. This would be the third time that he was leaving her side. A lone tear slipped from his own blue eyes as he slowly got up. He took his staff and walked out of the room. The man took one last glance at the girl before he closed the door.
He turned around back towards the hall and his eyes widened in shock at the figure that blocked his exit.
"You have a lot of things to explain, Higurashi-san," Soujiro exclaimed with piercing, narrowed eyes.
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- To be continued
Author's Notes:
Please read and review! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter also. (^_^) Here are some clarifications on the chapter:
1.) Shakujou is a typical Buddhist staff usually the length of the person himself (5'). It has gold hoops around the top of it. It is very typical to see Buddhist monks carry around these kinds of staffs.
2.) Man tou is a sort of Chinese bread. It is about the size of your palm and it is circular in shape. It is very popular as a sort of lunch food that is eaten in replacement of rice.
3.) Pao fan is rice in water. Usually Chinese people have preserved vegetables along with it, for instance preserved radishes. The veggies are usually salted and stored in some sort of soy sauce mixture. It's a very simple meal, but it is very good. ^_^ Hehe .. sometimes when I get lazy I have pao fan and peanut butter. Hehe .. odd combination I know, but it's very good.
Also, Higurashi Miroku was able to recognize Kaoru because she had blue eyes and has an uncanny resemblance to his late wife. (A/N: This was mentioned in an earlier chapter when Fujimoto Akane said that her mom's resemblance to Kaoru was uncanny while she also possessed eyes like her father's – in Chapter 7) More about that will be explained in the next chapter ^_^ Whew . .it's actually coming to a close now. Well, kind of. I think this has been my longest chapter up to date! =D Yikes!
Expect things to get really heated up in the next couple of chapters =D Oh yes, I think this story will end close to chapter 30 or something like that. ^_^ And then I'll probably start on a new fic. I'm not sure about the Kaoru/Kenshin and Yumi/Shishio story because it seems to be a bit more difficult to write than I first thought it would be. =(
So I was thinking of doing an alternate pairing one. I think I'm going to experiment with an Aoshi/Kaoru fic. Hehehe .. ^_^ Since there are not that many and reading "Mismatched" by Yuki-dono has made me think that the Aoshi/Kaoru thing would be quite adorable. Oh yes, also check out "My Little Princess" for some Aoshi/Kaoru waff. ^_^
Side Note:
I wrote this while listening to the soundtrack of Cirque du Soleil's "Varekai" (French for "wherever") Absolutely loved it!
Reader Reviews:
RC – Hehe .. the man was Higurashi !Now some serious revelations are going to be made. Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!
Kitty12perfecto – Sorry it took so long for the chapter to come out. =( Hope you enjoyed it nevertheless.
Catrina3 – You were right! It was Kaoru's dad ^_^ .. hehe .. haha yeah Kaoru has that ability to make people like her. =D
Ryoga – Thanks for the kind reviews.
Junebug – Aww thanks
Blazes purple fire – Hi! Yes, that's a good suggestion. I think I'll do that. An alternate ending for this fic. Hmm .. but it'll be a very sad ending for Kenshin though. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter =)
Saotome – That was a hilarious comment. Loved it. Might use it for a disclaimer. Hehehehehehe
^_^ - Yes, it was her father! =D No, they haven't met before at least not face to face with introductions. He may have .. but that would be told later. One reason that Higurashi Miroku would recognize her would be because she looks exactly like her mother and she had blue eyes.
Ame Kurayami – Hehe .. I hope you liked reading this chapter.
Ken-ni – Wow, thanks for all your reviews. They were nice to read. ^_^ Hehe ..
Poppy2 – Yes, a lot of things are going to change cuz Higurashi is in the picture now. Yay! =D
The sacred night – I love Saitou's character also. Hehe . . it's funny, when I first saw the scene with him and Kenshin fighting, I didn't like him. But as the series went on, I started to like him more and more. It's especially fun to write about him. =)
Uenki – Hi! Thanks for continuing to read this fic after so long ^_^ I'm really happy you're enjoying it.
Genkigirl – Thanks
Kyozgirl – hehe .. hope you liked this chapter! I wish I could update sooner for you guys! But I don't want to upload the chapter when I don't very much like it and make you guys read stuff that I myself don't think is very good.
Kenshinfan – hihi! I'm glad you and you alteregos enjoy it. Ana, expect some blood and gore in later chapters ^_~
Boomerang-chan – Hmm .. Enishi .. I love him!!!! Nope, it wasn't enishi, but Higurashi. ^_^ Hehehe …. Hmm . .Enishi
Devotd-inu-fan – Hehe . I'm glad you like it! Kaoru and Kenshin will find one another soon =D Expect it to be a rather dramatic scene. Hehehehehehehehehe ..
Kagome-sits-inuyasha – Hi Tracey. I'm glad you liked the chapter and the teaser =) Hehehe. . I thought it was a breather lol ..
Doris – Hi hi! I'm glad you liked the chapter. Nope, the guy on the tree wasn't Kenshin, but Higurashi. Kenshin and Kaoru's meeting will be much more dramatic than that.
MissBehavin – Aww. Thanks for your comments! I was reading through your fanfic today and I think that they're absolutely wonderful to read. I've put you on my favorite authors list. ^_^