Searching for a Reason
Chapter One: Wandering Wolf
It had been ten years. Ten years since the revolution ended, and the era called Meiji had begun. Tetsunosuke Ichimura, former page to the so-called 'Demon Hijikata' now wandered the land without purpose. It was on a cold day in late spring when he finally arrived in Tokyo. It was raining, he knew that much.
"Weather Okita-san would've hated." Tetsunosuke thought, with a slight sad smile. As far as he knew, he was the only remaining Wolf of Mibu. And what a sorry sight he was now; his clothes were torn and muddy, sopping wet from the rain. His feet were bruised and bleeding, and his red-brown eyes were dull, hinting at ill health.
"Daijobu ka, de gozaru?" a male voice asked. For a moment, Tetsunosuke ignored the voice, thinking it was his imagination, then turned when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, Kenshin's talking to you. Are you all right?" the dark-haired woman beside the man asked, with concern in her blue eyes.
"Hai. Just looking for a place to rest. That's all." Tetsunosuke lied, trying his best to convince the couple that he was all right. Apparently, it wasn't working; the young woman put a soft, yet strangely callused, hand to his forehead, and gasped when she found a fever residing there.
"Kenshin, go and get Megumi-san. I'll see if I can get him back to the dojo. Hurry!" the woman ordered, and the man known only as 'Kenshin' quickly moved off.
"C'mon. The dojo is this way. You can rest there, if you want to." The woman said, as she led Tetsunosuke in that direction.
"Arigato gozaimasu." Tetsunosuke murmured, a little surprised that these people would be kind to him, considering what he was.
"They probably don't know, Tetsu. And it's for the best that you do not tell them, for now." An inner voice told him, as the woman pulled him into the inner keep of the dojo, then into the dojo itself. Within moments, Tetsunosuke was dry and warm beneath the roof of the dojo.
"Damn, he looks like death warmed over. It's a good thing you sent Kenshin after the kitsune-onna." Another, different male voice muttered, as its owner meandered into sight. The young woman nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks for getting the extra clothes for him, Sano. I really appreciate it." the woman said, gratefully.
"No prob." The man said, with a shrug.
"Sano?! Man, that brings back memories! This guy even looks a little bit like Harada!" Tetsunosuke thought, as the woman gently made him lay back, and put a cool cloth to his burning forehead.
"So, can you tell us your name?" 'Sano' asked, curiosity edging its way into his voice as he said that.
"Ichimura Tetsunosuke. I'm twenty-five years old and a wandering swordsman by trade." Tetsunosuke replied, wincing when his throat protested against talking.
"A rurouni, huh? Then you're a lot like Kenshin. By the way, my name is Kamiya Kaoru. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ichimura-san." the woman said, with a smile.
"Please, just call me Tetsu, Kamiya-san." Tetsunosuke said, reminded of another person from his past as he gazed at her.
"Then you can call me Kaoru. Everyone else does." Kaoru stated, her expression deadpanning when a boyish voice shouted something to the effect of 'but there are some that call her a tanuki!' Tetsunosuke couldn't help but smile when Kaoru turned and snarled at the owner of the voice, daring him to call her that again to her face.
"Feh. Yahiko seems to have a death wish today." Sano muttered, looking away when he heard the front shoji open, and Kenshin and Megumi's voices came to his ears.
"Now, where is the patient?" a woman that reminded Tetsunosuke even more strongly of Ayume than Kaoru had, asked, as she entered the room.
"Right here." Tetsunosuke said, getting the woman's attention. For a moment, she seemed to do a double-take; looking first at Kenshin, then at Tetsunosuke, and back again.
"It's unbelievable………….He looks almost as though he could be Ken-san's younger brother!" 'Megumi' yelped, her surprise very evident in her voice and expression.
"I somehow doubt that, Megumi-dono. He looks to be only about sixteen or seventeen years old, de gozaru." Kenshin said, a bit shakily and with an uneasy smile. Tetsunosuke only smiled and sighed.
"But Kenshin, he told us he is about three years younger than you. So that would have made you contemporaries, in the very least." Kaoru said, as she eyed Tetsunosuke's red hair and lean body.
"I suppose so…………..So, do you have anyplace to stay while you are in Tokyo?" Kenshin asked. Tetsunosuke shook his head.
"Iie. And I have no one to stay with. I'm a rurouni, in the truest sense of the word." Tetsunosuke replied, sadly. He got a look of genuine sympathy from Kenshin as a result.
"I know how that feels only too well, since I was the same way until recently, de gozaru." Kenshin murmured, as he watched Megumi check the younger rurouni for injuries.
"Kaoru-san, would you mind getting the bandages for me? There's a good-sized cut on this man's abdomen that needs treatment before I can treat his other ailments." Megumi said, as Kaoru nodded and left the room to get what was needed.
"How'd that happen, Tetsu?" Sano asked, when the cut was uncovered enough for them to see.
"I got into a fight. This age of Meiji isn't all sunshine and sakura, you know." Tetsunosuke muttered, sarcastically, wincing when Megumi began to clean the cut in his side.
"I know what you mean." Sano growled, quietly, as Kaoru returned with the bandages and handed them to Megumi. After his wound had been bound, and after he'd been properly introduced to Kenshin, Sano, Megumi, and the only student in the dojo (Yahiko), Tetsunosuke relaxed back on his futon and took stock of all that had gone on that day. He'd gone from having nothing, to having a roof over his head, a somewhat palatable meal in his belly, and people who understood him better than almost anyone had in a little over ten years.
"Maybe I should stay here for awhile. It wouldn't hurt to get to know these people better, would it, Tatsu?" Tetsunosuke wondered, as he drifted into slumber, not knowing that Kenshin now watched him from the doorway.
"Something tells me that we've met before. But where? Where have I met this young man? What battlefield did we first meet on?" Kenshin silently mused, his purple, now gold-flecked, eyes focused on the sleeping form of the younger rurouni.
"I guess I will remember later. For now, it is best to let the past rest." Kenshin at last thought, before closing the shoji and heading to his own room for some much-needed sleep.