To my two reviewers: Jay and anonymous (can't spell) --- eek - this update is for you. thanks for the reviews ^_^!!! I was about to abandon and move on to something else but.... ENJOY!

DISCLAIMER: I'm a penniless fan who can't get enough of the RK series : P


*Chapter 3*

Kenshin didn't have far to go. When the light went back to normal, he found he was practically on top of the action. Two people on the ground, one rolling about in agony, and another three standing about scrubbing their eyes. They didn't look dangerous but what was with their strange dressing? Four of them were...ew... dressed like Saitoh...Kenshin rubbed his ear to try and ease the ringing in his head.

Daisuke managed to open his eyes and saw Kenshin standing just in front of him. Who's this jerk? He took in the puny frame, messy red hair and fancy dress. Obviously some kid (Girl? boy?) just finished with kendo class. Never seen a school with a pink gi uniform though, Daisuke's upper lip was curled in disgust.

Miname glanced quickly around. Shou had partly recovered but he had moved (far)away from her. Atsuji was close by but, along with the others, was distracted by a puny kid who had seemingly materialized out of nowhere. Too stunned by his (her?) bad dress sense probably - Miname hated pink. Anyway, this was her chance. She made a quick scramble to get away, but was promptly sat on by Atsuji. She kicked her legs madly as he slammed his hands over her mouth to shut her up.

"Yo," Daisuke glanced back and saw that Miname was not going anywhere soon. He sauntered up to Kenshin casually and tried to smile - he usually had no trouble turning on the charm but it was hard this time, in the face of such glaring bad taste. Pink - and red hair! (Daisuke has a thing about clothes ^_^) "Didn't see you come by, little buddy. We ... have some personal business to take care of - and it really has nothing to do with you. So we'd appreciate it if you could move on by."

Kenshin was feeling even dizzier now. Little buddy???? How old does this punk think I am? Anyhow, they were abusing someone and it was his "answer" to protect the helpless and all that etc etc. so, on with business. "Sessha won't be able to do that, unfortunately - " His brow furrowed a bit in confusion. It was hard to work up the motivation when the aggressors were obviously not armed. "Can't you sort this out by talking de gozaru?"

Daisuke was getting impatient - and hungry. Best settle all this rubbish for Reiko as soon as possible. "You idiot! You sound like my grandfather hamming it up! I could punish you for your terrible sense of colour coordination alone! C'mon guys, let's take him out too!" The three boys rushed towards Kenshin in a blur of moving bodies and swinging arms.

oRO? Did he just insult my dress sense? Kenshin dodged their first swings easily and watched as they barrelled in for another round. "Anou, sessha doesn't want to hurt anyone... oh - itai." Yuuta and Shou had successfully connected their punches... with each other.

"GRR!!! SHUT UP YOU MORON!!!" They were coming in again.

Kenshin sighed and took his time preparing himself. "Well, sessha doesn't want to do this, but... you three are just going to end up hurting yourself at this rate... Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu! Do Ryu Sen!". Almost gently, he slashed the ground, sending chunks of it flying at the three boys.

There was a brief silence before all three bodies collapsed in a heap on the ground.

"Hmm," Kenshin hunkered down for a closer look at Daisuke. "Maybe sessha should have used even less strength," he mumbled ruefully. The kid would be out cold for about half an hour.

"You... you've killed them!" Atsuji stammered from his vantage point on Miname's stomach. Miname was also craning her neck to get a view too.

"Oh, iie... ha ha," Kenshin was rubbing the back of his head, "They're just knocked out..."

"You FREAK!" Atsuji wasn't staying around any longer. He leapt up and dashed away through the trees.

Kenshin blinked after him in some surprise. "Oh well, here you go," he offered Miname a hand to pull her up from the ground. "Daijoubu - er.." He looked at her curiously, as if trying to make up his mind about something.

"Miname, Kuroda Miname..." She shook her head and dusted herself down. "Thank you, I guess. When did you sneak up on us?..."

"Oh, its Miname, is it-" Kenshin sighed in relief. "A woman then! Daijoubu Miname-dono? ITAI!!"

"ARE YOU BLIND?!!!" She had slammed him in the stomach with her school bag. "Of course I'm a woman!!! I'm wearing a girl's uniform aren't I?" How could Kenshin explain himself? The top half of her outfit was what those foreign male sailors wore... and the bottom half was a shortened version of western gowns he had seen. How on earth was he supposed to know? She looked like a young boy in drag!!!

"Anyway, you aren't one to talk -". Suddenly she was all over him, circling him, lifting up his hair and poking at his body, "What are you? A boy? A girl? A-ha - " She poked him several times in the chest. "Okay, a boy then."

"oRO!!" Kenshin had never felt so ... violated! Not even by Sano (?!?)! Nevermind that though - he was still feeling disoriented - where was he?

"What's your name anyway?" Miname tried to frame her words civilly - they had got her into enough trouble today already. At any rate, she did owe this strange person something for saving her - and that something wasn't abuse. She tried to smile nicely.

*Sweatdrop* The strange girl was grimacing at him! "Er... Himura.. Himura Kenshin"

"N..nani?" Miname dropped her bag, "Himura Kenshin? As in, the Hitokiri Battousai?"

Kenshin's eyes went into slitty battousai mode in a flash. Aside from his closest friends, top government officials and obsessed psychos, no one knew to connect Himura Kenshin with his alter ego, the battousai. "Oro?!?!" He was used to getting a reaction when his identity was revealed, but hysterical laughter was a first. Miname was holding her stomach and had tears in her eyes. She slapped him on the shoulder to try and get herself to stop. Well - definitely an obsessed psycho.

"Go on then... ehehe," she wiped the tears from her eyes and swatted at him again, "seriously - what's your name? Or did your parents really mess up...?"

"Himura Kenshin" Kenshin said, but less surely this time.

Miname finally managed to look Kenshin full in the face - and immediately noticed that he had a cross scar on the left cheek, just like the history books said! Okay Miname!!! She scooted back two steps quickly. She thought he might have been pulling her leg, or maybe his parents really had messed up and named him after a legendary killer. But to actually replicate the battousai's scars on his cheek - this guy was obviously some deluded, obsessed weirdo!!

"Ah-- well... nice to meet you, Er ... Himura... but - will you look at the time? I'm so late, I have to go! Byeee!!" She swung her bag over her shoulder and marched purposefully away as fast as she could.

"Chotto matte de gozaru!!" Arrgh is he following me? no no I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that... she was walking even faster. "Miname-dono..." Arrgh! She was speed walking now. "... wait!...", he had overtaken her, "Sumanai de gozaru, sessha needs to know ... where am I?"

"Are you an idiot? Tokyo of course!" Miname, will you watch your tongue! She winced inwardly.

"Tokyo.. ka?" Kenshin blinked and looked around him confusedly. There were no familiar landmarks in sight, just trees. He shook his head, and pressed on "Did you notice a bright light back there, a funny noise? I was walking towards Tokyo - in the middle of a winters night believe it or not - when the light and sound came... and suddenly - I was here, in the middle of autumn..."

Miname looked him over carefully. He didn't seem to be a psycho but she knew from her healthy TV diet that psychos could sound extremely rational and pleasant. However...at first glance, he looked like a kid or maybe an instructor coming from kendo class. But what kind of dojo issued that kind of uniform? She shuddered inwardly at the pink. And - what kind of student wore such old practice clothes? And - waitaminute - what kind of student goes about brandishing a real katana...???! Shouldn't he be using a shinai?

Her hand flew to her pendant, as a nagging doubt began to form in her mind. Something in the note from her father about the pendant... she couldn't remember just then. And I know I felt something back there...

"What year is it?" she asked him bluntly, "I mean, what year do you think it is?"

"The winter of Meiji 13," he said matter-of-factly.

*****

In the end, they had started walking in silence, Miname leading the way, in the direction of her home. She wasn't sure what she would do when they got there, or if she was convinced by Kenshin's story... but she didn't think he was a dangerous person and he really did seem disoriented. At any rate, she wanted to dig up the note about the pendant...

For his part, Kenshin was reeling internally after Miname had revealed that this was 2001, or Heisei 12... and that two other eras (Showa and Taisho) had already elapsed between the present and the Meiji. Everything he saw as they walked confirmed her words. Soon after leaving the park, he was assailed with all kinds of strange sights - it was hard to keep up with his guide.

"You baka - stop ogling - people are staring at you," Miname growled at him as she dragged him away from a street lamp. He smiled to himself - being called baka was something familiar at least.

****

Kenshin was gaping at Miname's home - but that wasn't unexpected. Most people did. It was set in the middle of a sprawling compound behind high gates. Through the thick greenery it was possible to catch a glimpse of an imposing mansion consisting of various connected buildings. She let him stare open mouthed for awhile, before leading him to a side entrance when she had made up her mind. She took out her key and unlocked the side gate, and ushered him onto a narrow walkway connected to the second floor of a relatively modest two-storey building. "This is where I live," she told him offhandedly.

Her parents had built her sister and her a separate apartment block, set away from the main part of the house when her sister had turned 16. Her sister had promptly moved in to occupy the apartment on the lower floor and Miname had recently taken up residence on the upper level. The apartments were completely self-contained, consisting of a modest sized living room with a bedroom and separate study room leading away from it, two bathrooms and a kitchenette. One of the servants came daily to clean out the place and restock the refrigerator and pantry -so it was entirely possible for her to not see her family for months on end if she chose to. Her parents had instituted a "tradition" of gathering together for dinner daily, but they were not strict about enforcing it.

Kenshin was now standing in the middle of her living room, mouth still open, taking in all the weird looking furniture and other strange things littering the room.

Ok Miname. Now what? Did she believe his story? The phone rang suddenly making both her and Kenshin leap about three feet in the air.

*****


Notes: Updates may be slow... pls let me know if i am rambling - i tend to do that when i write.