The Further Adventures of Rurounin Soujiro



By Daimyo Shi



Words in English



Soujiro continued walking along the field. He came across a very large building made of brick.

[I wonder what this building is. It is very big. Not any carriages around it right now.] thinks Soujiro. He looks in one of the windows he sees a map on the wall and a number of desks facing a chalkboard and a very large desk in the corner. [This must be a school, I think.] He continues walking a long one wall. And it leads to a street. Across the street is a strip mall. [I wonder what that is? Well there are no lights here so I guess I should just look around and make sure the carriages are not around.] Soujiro crosses the street and immediately see something that peaks his interest. A section of the building has several Kanji along with the normal writing of this country.

"Kendo Dojo, Jujitsu, Karate. Maybe some here speaks Nihongo." says Soujiro. Soujiro opens the door with some difficultly since it didn't slide, and walks up to the desk seeing a Japanese girl.

"Konchiwa, I am Seta Soujiro. I was wondering if you could tell me where I am?"

"What? I don't speak Japanese. " replies the girl with a puzzled look.

[What she doesn't seem to understand me? Why? She looks Japanese. Why doesn't she understand Japanese?] It was Soujiro's turn to look puzzled.

"Richard, can you come and help me?"

"Nani? Right now?" said a voice deep in the Dojo. "All right. I will be just a moment class." A broad shoulder white man walked out of the Dojo area into the hall and walk towards Soujiro. Soujiro could feel the man's slight Ki. [A Gaijin, trained in Kenjutsu?"] thought Soujiro.

"What is wrong Naomi?" ask Richard. Richard upon seeing Soujiro, who is wearing a Katana tenses up and readies his bokken.

"This young man doesn't speak English, I think he is speaking Japanese." says Naomi.

Soujiro faces Richard "Konichiwa, I am Seta Soujiro, a ronin, I was wondering if you could tell me where I am, and maybe when I am?"

Richard looks at Soujiro funny. Soujiro sighs think that Richard does not understand.

"I see Seta-san you are lost, ne? Well I don't know how but you are in Kanada. When are you from, I mean what is the last date you remember?" asks Richard.

"Ka-na-da? Uh . . . Meiji 11, 8/14." replies Soujiro.

"I see then. It is nearly 150 years since then." states Richard

Soujiro face faults.

"I know this must be hard to believe but I have a class to finish teaching if you can wait until I done with that we can talk more and maybe figure out you got here." says Richard

Soujiro manages a nod and follows Richard into the Dojo after he removes sandals. He walks into the Dojo and sees twenty children with Shinai sitting on their knees. They came from a mixture of races white, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and a couple that Soujiro hadn't ever seen before. Soujiro sat in the corner.

"Well I am sorry about delay students but Seta-san came at little early so I had to meet him at the door." Soujiro nods at his name. "He has come from Japan to see how we train here in Canada. So let us continue our class then and show him how well you all practice kendo."

Soujiro never really understood the point of kendo it wasn't really useful. From what he understood it was a pastime of many urban samurai in Edo. It was sporting and had rules, the purpose of pretending to be fighting didn't make much sense. [I suppose Himura would like it though since it doesn't harm anyone. With Shishio defeat maybe kendo became more popular as Kenjutsu fell away in the peace that must have followed. I wonder why Japanese people would leave Japan for Kanada?] Soujiro watched as the student do a number of practice motions. After an hour Richard finished the class and a ten year old girl walked up to Soujiro. "Ano . . . Seta-sama what part of Nihon are you from?"

"Kyoto, are you from Japan?" asks Soujiro

"No, but my grandfather is. He is from Tokyo. My name is Koshinko, Himura Koshinko." smiles Koshinko.

"Koshinko, don't keep your mother waiting." says Richard

"Hai sensei!" replies Koshinko. "I have to go now, I hope to see you again." Koshinko jogs out of the Dojo into the hall.

"Himura?" mumbles Soujiro.

"Something you recognize?" asks Richard.

"Someone I know, knew from before." remarks Soujiro.

"Come to my office, we can have some tea until they all leave." says Richard.

"Hai." Soujiro follows Richard to his office.

They enter Richard's office, he sits behind a large desk and Soujiro sits in a chair across. Soujiro looks behind Richard and sees a number of pictures behind him in colour. Richard is each of them with a number of Japanese and White men and a couple Japanese women. Soujiro is drawn to one that has Richard and a beautiful Japanese woman both of them are dressed in Shinsengumi uniforms.

"I see my picture have drawn your interest Seta-san. This one." pointing to the one of Richard and the Japanese woman "Is of me and my wife, Kenko when we were at a Kyoto anime Convention. I guess you recognize the Shinsengumi uniforms. It was Kenko's idea since her great great-grandfather, was Saitou Hajime, the Third guard captain of the Shinsengumi. I wanted to go as Gourry Gabriev and have her go as Lina Inverse. Not that makes any sense to you. I boring you. We should deal with your problem." says Richard

"Well, how did I get here?" asks Soujiro

"I don't know, how did you get here? I mean what were you doing just before you figured out you were not in Japan?" asks Richard

"Well I was walking through a forest and then it broke onto one of these strangely made roads and I then when into some kind of bakery. I guess that when I knew I wasn't in Japan any more." replies Soujiro.

"Thus your Timmies Boxes. So did you leave a Japanese Inn then entered the forest?"

"What a Timmies?" asked Soujiro.

"Oh the bakery you were in, it called Tim Hortens." replies Richard.

"I see, well yes I was trying to take a short cut you see over to the next road and then I kind of got lost." says Soujiro.

"Hmmm . . . I don't know how to tell you but I have no idea how you got here. But I can at least help you live here." says Richard.

"You can?" asks Soujiro.

"Yeah, if you like you can stay with me until we figure out something different. I have a spare room that I don't use. It could be your bed room." says Richard "Heck, we can go now and get you settled."

Soujiro smiles "Thank you, uh could you tell me more about you pictures before we go?"

Richard face faults "Sure, this is a picture of my sensei Takeda Taro, his brother Jiro and I at the Japanese Kendo Championship. I was just there to watch my Sensei. This picture is all of Takeda-sensei's students when I was in his class in Japan. Taka Jiro, Hanakei Daiko, Mojin Yahiko, me, Daishu Taro, Kunio Hajime, Tokugawa Yashiro, Himura Kenji, my wife, Sagara Tomoe, Taka Sanro, and Tendo Sakura. This is Sagara Sano, Himura Kenji, and I at the World Kendo Champonship in San Francisco." Soujiro noted [Sagara Sano looks a lot like the Sagara Sanosuke that had accompanied Himura Kenshin to fight my former mentor Shishio and Himura Kenji looks a lot like Himura-san.]

"And this one is right after I mange to get my fifth dan in Kendo in Tokyo it has my sensei, Himura Kenji and my wife and I. Well that all of them Soujiro, we better get going or My Wife will wonder where I am." Soujiro and Richard get up and leave the office. Soujiro goes out the door and then waits as Richard Does a bunch of stuff that he doesn't understand. Richard then comes out and locks the door.

"You know Seta-san I think you like the future here. Come on Kenko will have supper ready."

Soujiro and Richard walk down the street.



Owari [for now]