01: The Wanderer.
The first time Saki Kawasaki met him, she mistook him for a girl. He was a fair-skinned man of below average height, slim built and in her opinion having a rather androgynous face. She made another mistake. She thought he was around her age. In fact, she thought he was younger. Needless to say, she was in for a rude shock.
He was twenty-eight, could you believe it. She accused him of lying. There was no way he was that old. But there were a lot of strange things going around in the world. It was easy to believe he looked quite younger than he really was. For all she knew the modern era, what with all the pollution and chemicals in the air was making people age faster and look older. Hell, she even felt old and she was just in her first year of university.
What about you, she asked foolishly. He shook his head. He had mid-back length red hair which was tied in a thick pony tail and it almost brushed over her face. She tried to look stoic. She focused on the cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. It looked old. It looked like it had a story behind it. But she didn't bother to ask him about it. They weren't really that close yet.
Besides, there were other things to talk about.
His name was Kenshin Himura and he came from 1878.
No, he was not an immortal vampire who sparkled, thank god for that. He came from beyond the gate, portals which opened in several cities across the country. She didn't know a lot about them, no one did, but somehow these portals and the people who came from it had become a normal part of present day society. Unless you are Hikigaya, of course. Stupid bum, can't even say her name right. One of these days, she's gonna kick his ass.
Kenshin was okay. But she had to remind himself that he was a proper adult sometimes. There was one time he was mistaken for a yakuza. That was fun. He just kept on saying 'oro' and 'sessha' and 'de gozaru' and she had to convince the police officers that he was a hardcore cosplayer. Yes, officer, the scar was real. No, I don't see how that makes him look suspicious. You know what officer, if he was trying to commit suicide, he would have cut both his wrists and if I'm being honest that's a pussy-ass way to kill yourself and you know what, you can go screw –
And at this exact moment, thinking god knows what, Kenshin decided to unsheathe his sword.
As you would expect, the police officer pointed a gun at his face.
Kenshin looked unphased.
It was the first time she saw his sword. The Sakabatou, the reverse-blade sword. She thought it was a myth. But there it was, a simple katana with its blade forged on the opposite side. It was a weapon which was incapable of taking a life.
The police officer thought it was a toy and let them go with a small warning.
Kenshin later told her that he thought this was a way to deescalate the situation. Yeah, show a police officer a sword. That would work wonders. Good going Kenshin, she told him.
"Oro?"
But even as she wondered about the man from a different time, lost in this modern era, wearing a strange sword which couldn't kill, she had to wonder why did he come here in the first place. He said he was just a wanderer, looking for something. For what, she couldn't really ask. They didn't know each other that well.
But maybe, if he stuck around, she just might.