Ai no Aji - Taste of Love
By Lady_Allure (Allure-chan) ~With a few paragraphs written by Dreama Tsuki!~
 

You know I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Sailor Moon, just the fic. ENJOY!


Note: MUCH THANKS goes out to my Imuoto-chan's Pokahydee and Dreama Tsuki for being pre-readers and to Dreama-chan for writing a few paragraphs. ~Hugs~ ARIGATO Imuoto-chan! Gomen ne for not updating my fics lately. I've been having some serious writers block. I have to thank R n B music for the inspiration. This fic is based mostly on the RK OVA series, and it may be a little angsty.




Act 2: Too Real!

"Usagi, Usagi, wake up." The male voice sounded miles away to Usagi, being that she was half asleep, and not in the mood to wake up. Instead of answering the white neko, she pulled the covers over her face, attempting to ignore him. She was barely drifting back to sleep when a she felt the air knocked out of her, causing her eyes to fly wide open, staring into a pare of feline ice blue eyes. "I said wake up." Artemis repeated himself, a little displeased with having to pounce on Usagi's chest.

"Artemis, it's too early." she groaned, laying back, staring up at the ceiling, knowing that the sun had just risen, "I feel like I haven't slept at all, I had such a nightmare." she shuddered, thinking about the dream.

"It wasn't a dream Usagi-chan." The white cat stated seriously.

"NANI!" Usagi shot up into a sitting position, realizing she had slept in her clothes, and the fact that she wasn't in her bed, or in her room. Instead, she was in a room, decorated in the old fashioned way, with paper walls, sliding doors. Like the way the rooms were at the Hikawa Shrine. Not only were her surroundings different, but also her bed, which was really a futon, laid flat on the floor. Her eyes widened with shock, "It was real, the whole thing."

"Hai." Artemis nodded, "You fainted on the way."

"How did I get here then?"

"He carried you."

Usagi blinked, "That guy with the sword?"

Artemis opened his mouth to respond, when the shoji screen door opened, "Meow." he forced the sound out of his mouth.

The swordsman entered with a small tray of food. Usagi could hear her stomach growl loudly when the smell reached her nose. "Ohayoo," she said blushing. He nodded and set the tray down in front of her.

"How do you feel?" he asked in his deep voice.

"Hungry," she said as she felt her stomach ache from lack of food.

Hitokiri was surprised by her choice of words. He walked over and sat by the door while she ate and found her food intake rate was even more surprising. Where all the food went was a mystery.

"Arigato Battousai-san for the wonderful food," Usagi said.

"You're welcome," he said quietly. His eyes were closed, but even Usagi could tell that he was on the alert for anyone who decided to pay them a visit. His sword was sitting against his shoulder, positioned so he could easily unsheathe it should they be attacked. It was then that Usagi realized that he had probably stayed like that all night, she felt her cheeks redden.

Suddenly, the swordsman was on the alert. Something or someone was coming down the hall. Voices could be heard, meaning there were more than two people, members of his clan more or likely.

"He actually brought a girl with him." they heard.

"Hard to believe they slept in the same room, if they slept at all." Male laughter could be heard.

Usagi's faced reddened at the gossip, listening to them joke about the red haired swordsman. To her, it seemed like he didn't hear what they were saying; either that or he didn't care, because his face remained blank as the voices faded. He looked at her briefly, then back at the floor. "Pay no attention to them." he told her, closing his eyes again.

"Hai." Usagi nodded, studying the swordsman carefully now that she could see him, deciding what she should say next. Hitokiri Battousai wore exactly the same thing he did the night before, the aikido kendo outfit, meaning a dark blue gi, and gray hakama pants. Even with that x-shaped scar on his left cheek, and the high ponytail, he was quite handsome, she had to admit. But that thought disturbed her, either he was dressed for kendo lessons or he chose to dress in the retro fashion of samurai. "What year is it?" she had to ask, dreading the answer.

Hitokiri raised his eyebrows, keeping his eyes closed, "1867." he answered simply.

Her jaw dropped, too shocked to speak. How the heck did she and Artemis end up in the past? "Are you serious?" she asked a moment later, her voice shaky.

"What do you think?" he shrugged, clearly not joking.

Usagi bit her lip, glancing at Artemis, not surprised to see the same shocked expression. She wanted so badly to talk to him, but not yet. Not while the swordsman was in the room with them. How would she explain a talking cat? She didn't know what to say. Sure she had been to the future, Crystal Tokyo, but not to the past, not the Genji Era if she remembered correctly.

"I have some business to attend to." Hitokiri said, interrupting her thoughts, "A servant will tend to you shortly." he told her as he got up, gripping his forever present katana.

She heard his words, still speechless. Normally she would be a motor mouth, trying to get some sort of explanation, but at this point, there was no one she could really ask, considering Artemis. She watched the red head leave, sliding the door behind him, "Ne Artemis." Usagi finally spoke when she found her voice; sure that no one was listening.

"Yeah." he looked at her, swallowing hard.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

The white cat sighed, "Good question Usagi-chan."




Hitokiri sat on his knees, facing his clan leader, waiting him to speak, thinking. The girl was certainly a strange one.

"What do you know of this girl?" Kogoro Katsura questioned, taking a sip of saki from a small cup.

"Her name is Tsukino Usagi."

"Soo ka." Kogoro nodded, "The men tell me she slept in your room."

"Hai."

"You know that is rather improper." The clan leader pointed out.

"Hai."

The dark haired man grinned thinly, a little humorously, "I take it she is not from here."

"Iie."

"I'd like to speak with her." Kogoro said, pouring himself another cup of saki, "Send her to me when she is ready."

"As you wish." Hitokiri nodded once before getting up, and leaving the room.




Usagi opened the sliding paper window, staring at the old fashioned paper and wood houses that lined the streets. She certainly was in the past; there was no mistaking it now. There were no cars, no skyscrapers, everything that was modern in this time included, wagons, oil lamps, and the like. Electricity didn't exist, and neither did anything that required it. "What have I gotten myself into Artemis?" she turned, looking at the guardian cat who sat next to her. The white neko opened his mouth to answer, only to be interrupted yet again when there was a knock at the door.

"Hai." Usagi said, as a servant girl dressed in a purple kimono entered the room, bowing.

"Do you require anything?" The girl asked.

Usagi glanced at her dirty clothes and touched her tangled hair, flushing, "I could use a bath." she replied.

The girl eyed her strange outfit, her cheeks reddening at how much skin they exposed, it was not proper for lady to dress in such a way, and neither was the odd odango hair style. "Perhaps a change of clothing also." she included.

Usagi giggled at the girl's expression, "That would be nice."

The servant nodded, "Come then." she gestured with her hand.

"Saa." Usagi smiled, and followed the girl.




"Sugoi." Usagi's eyes widened at the huge bathing room, complete with a big wooden tub already filled with steaming hot water, soap, body oils, everything. "This is too much."

The servant girl chuckled, "Do you need any assistance?" she asked, wondering if the blond hair girl wanted her back washed."

"Iie, I can take it from here." Usagi told her.

The girl raised an eyebrow at her usage of words, but nodded in reply, "Take as much time as you need, I'll check on you later."

"Thanks." Usagi smiled at the girl, waiting until she was alone before shedding her clothes, and undoing the odangos in her hair before slowly stepping into the hot water, inch by inch, until her body adjusted. "This is great." she said to herself as she sat down, feeling the water soothe her body. She took nearby bar of soap and began scrubbing her body and hair until she felt cleaner than before, pouring the rose body oil into the water last so that the scent would cling to her for the rest of the day, after that, she merely relaxed, closing her eyes, enjoying her bath. She didn't know how long she stayed in the water, apparently it was long enough. She didn't notice the servant girl had returned.

"I've brought you a fresh yukata." The girl said, holding the garment on one arm, a towel on the other.

Usagi nodded lightly, deciding she was clean enough, and reluctantly got out of the tub, taking the offered towel, drying herself off. "Arigato." she thanked her, allowing the girl to slip the white yukata over her shoulders, and tie the blue sash, closing the robe.

"Your welcome." The girl gave a small smile, "There's a fresh set of clothes in the room." she added, and gathered Usagi's clothes from the floor, "I'll have these washed for you."

"Sounds good." Usagi replied, wrapping the towel over her blond hair.

The girl laughed, covering her chuckles with her hand. The girl had an interesting way of speaking.




It was a good thing Usagi was used to wearing a kimono, except she missed the odangos. It felt weird to have her hair pilled on top of her head. The servant girl insisted that she wear it that way. She sat on her knees, letting the girl fix her hair, ignoring the funny feeling in her feet. Some vacation, instead of going to Kinmoku-sei with Kakyuu-Hime, she ended up it 1867 Kyoto. "I should have listened to you  Hime." she whispered.

"My master would like to speak with you." A familiar male voice spoke. She looked up at the red headed swordsman. She didn't even hear him come in.