* Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.
In Search of the Lost Sapphire
Chapter 4: A Needle in a Stack of Hay
"Now you can't run anywhere, Sissy!"
"I'm gonna get you for breaking my little brother's nose, Kid!"
It was late at night. Several boys cornered a smaller boy in a dark alley. "Got anything to say, eh, Redhead? You must be so ugly that your own parents didn't want to keep you!"
The little red-haired boy didn't reply. He only gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. This didn't go unnoticed by the older boys. "Well, well, it seems that our little Sissy wants to fight back. Guys?"
"Let us teach him a lesson or two! He must pay for what he has done to my brother!" And so the boys began to beat him up. The redhead couldn't really stand up against them all. He was much younger and much smaller than those boys.
"I heard his father was a gaijin." One of the boys said to the other.
"Sure. Where else did he got that ugly red hair from his?"
"Then his mother must be a whore…. Heard that, Himura? Your mother must have been a whore! She met a gaijin and boom, you were born. No wonder your father…."
A vicious punch landed on Fuji's cheek. They all surprised to see little Kenshin standing, his eyes blazing with fury. Gone was the violet, replaced by golden. "Don't… don't ever talk about my mother like that!!!"
"What the…" Blood trickled from the corner of Fuji's mouth. "You'll pay for this, Himura!! Charge!!!"
But a hand stopped him from hitting Kenshin. "Hold it right there, young man!"
The boys were surprised. Standing between Kenshin and Fuji was a very tall man with long black hair. "No gentleman would corner such a little kid. What's going on here?"
Kansai International Airport, May 2006
A crystal clear voice of the stewardess was heard throughout the cabin. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This airplane will land within 10 minutes. Please fasten your seatbelt…."
"Huh?" Kenshin rubbed his sleepy eyes slowly. He's just awakened from his sleep. A stewardess stopped beside him and said, "Your seatbelt please, Sir."
"Uh, okay." He quickly fastened his seatbelt. It was just a dream. But going back to Japan always brings back memories of the past…. Shishou, if I hadn't met you that night, where would I have been now….
***
Just like what Fuji had said, Kenshin's father was indeed a gaijin. His mother, Himura Sakamae, met his father at Tokyo harbor. Jack was a British sailor. He was indeed a handsome young man. His hair was red, and his eyes were violet. Young Sakamae fell in love with him instantly after their first meeting.
But the Himura family didn't approve him at all. "He's just using you, Sakamae-chan!" His parents had scolded her. Being a stubborn girl, Sakamae didn't listen to her family. She kept seeing Jack despite the prohibition from her parents. Until one night…
Jack had to leave to England the day after. That night he had had a party with his friends and had been drunk when he met Sakamae at his room. He wanted Sakamae to come with him. But even though she loved him, Sakamae said she couldn't leave her parents just like that. "Let's talk first with my parents." So she had suggested. But Jack didn't want to hear any of it. "I've waited long enough, Sakamae! Your parents wouldn't let you anyway. They're way to old-fashioned!"
They had argued pretty heavily that night. Sakamae finally decided not to follow him. Jack became very angry that he lost control over himself. At that place he had raped poor Sakamae and left her in the morning to England.
When Sakamae finally woke up and found him already gone, she cried like she had never cried in her whole life. She was ashamed of herself and didn't have the guts to come home. And to make matters worse, it turned out to be that she got pregnant!
It was one month before the baby was due to be born when she received the news about her parents, that they were very ill. Upon hearing the news she immediately went home. Unfortunately she didn't make it in time. Her father had just passed away when she emerged at the doorway to her parents' room. Her mother followed him minutes later. She died at Sakamae's arms….
Her family blamed her for the death of Mr. and Mrs. Himura. Even her brothers and sisters did so too. They hated her for not listening to them. Sakamae was really alone. Not long afterwards she became ill as well. She died after she gave birth to Kenshin….
Kenshin had his father's hair and eyes, but he had his mother's small feature. He was raised by the sister of Sakamae, but the truth is that the whole Himura family hated him, just as they had hated his mother….
***
Kobe, two days after Kenshin's arrival
"Hmm… let's see…" Kenshin murmured to himself while his eyes scanned the list in his hand carefully. He stood before an orphanage in Kobe. "This one's out of the list…. Okay, three more to go!"
Flashback
From Kansai International Airport Kenshin had immediately set out to Kobe. He had thought hard of where and how he should begin. This is crazy… I'm looking for a needle in a stack of hay… Finally he decided to begin with orphanages in Kobe. He went to information center and asked for the list of orphanages in Kobe. Fortunately for him there aren't so many of them.
He showed Kaoru's picture to the caretakers of the first orphanage he visited and asked if they had ever seen her.
"Gomen nasai, Himura-san. We have never known her."
"Could you please try looking at your archive? Try looking under the name Kaoru…" Kenshin pleaded to him.
"Her name was Kaoru? And her surname was…."
"I don't know." Kenshin replied. "I only know her given name."
"Well, it would be much easier if only you knew her surname…. What a pity… but I'll see what we can do for you. Come with me. We don't usually do this, but just this time I'll make an exception…" The caretaker took Kenshin to administration room. He gestured Kenshin to a chair behind a computer desk. Then he opened the database that contained the information about all occupants of that orphanage. The caretaker typed 'Kaoru' and pressed the Enter button.
"Why do you want to find her anyway?" He asked Kenshin while they waited for the result.
"I don't know. I think I'm just curious about her whereabouts…"
The caretaker only smirked. "Really? Is it a mere curiosity that a man would travel half of the world only to find a girl he saw ten years ago, Himura-san?"
The beep from the computer saved Kenshin's day. "Ah, here are the results…" Both men observed the list displayed on the screen carefully. "We've got a lot Kaorus here…"
"Do you have their photos as well?"
"Yup." The caretaker nodded. "Just click at every name and you'll get full description of the person. Now, since it might take you quite some times, would you like a cup of coffee?"
"Yes, please…."
End of flashback
It was two day before. Kenshin had spent hours looking at the files of those children. They all came from different background. Some were not wanted by their parents. Some had lost their parents since their young age. But none of them bore any similarities to Kaoru.
As Kenshin walked around the town he was amazed, but at the same time happy, to see how much it had recovered from the damages the great earthquake had inflicted. 10 years ago all what's left from the city was piles of debris; now it had become one of the most important cities in Japan.
Up to now he had been in 4 orphanages. He had asked every orphan whose parents were the victims of the earthquake. Most of them had become teenagers now, even adults. "Nope, never seen that face." Another said, "I would never forget such face if I had met her."
Kenshin was getting more and more pessimistic, until, much to his delight, a teenage boy at the fifth orphanage on his list finally recognized her. "We sat by the same orphanage before the great earthquake happened…"
"Wait…" Kenshin interrupted him. "Kazu-chan, do you mean she has became an orphan even before the earthquake?"
"Yes." That boy whose name was Kazu nodded. "She was already there when I came, shortly before the earthquake happened. The other kids were pretty nasty, you know. They treated me badly. But Kaoru-san always defended me…. She was… she was my guardian angel…. I would have been died if she hadn't saved me that night. They said I was still inside when the building started to collapse. It was Kaoru-san who ran inside and risked her life to save me…."
Kenshin fell silent for a while before continuing. "Then what happened to her after the great earthquake?"
Kazu shook his head sadly. "I don't know. That night was the last time I saw her. I was carried to treatment center immediately." He bowed his head down. "I haven't even got the chance to thank her…."
"I see…" Kenshin was a little disappointed. He had hoped that this boy would know something about her whereabouts. Sighing deeply, the redhead stood up and said, "Well, then I'd better get going. Thank you so much for everything…." Kenshin was about to exit the room when a voice stopped him.
"Wait, Himura-san…"
Kenshin stopped immediately and turned around. "What is it, Kazu-chan?"
The teenage boy fidgeted nervously for a while. "Himura-san, if you find her, would you please tell her that Kazu-chan is really grateful to her for saving his life?"
Kenshin's violet eyes softened as he heard it. Then he smiled warmly and replied, "I will, Kazu-chan. I promise…"
***
Another day had passed. Kenshin had visited all orphanages in Kobe, but there was still no trace of Kaoru. The next target was police stations…
"Good afternoon." Kenshin greeted a police officer behind his desk for the third time that day.
"Good afternoon, Sir." The officer greeted him back. "What can I do for you?"
"Er… I'm looking for someone…" The redhead replied. "Actually I was hoping that you'd have some information about her."
"Well, we don't just give away information about people, but you can tell us what's going on…"
Kenshin nodded and took Kaoru's photo out of his pocket. "I'm looking for the girl in this photo. Her name is Kaoru. I took this photograph 10 years ago right after the great earthquake. I want to find her…"
"Hmm, nice photo…" The officer commented on the photo. "Any surname?"
"No, I don't know her surname. She has become an orphan even before the great earthquake…"
"Then it's rather impossible for us to locate her. Have you tried orphanages?"
"Yup. I have visited all of them."
"Well, then I'm afraid we could not do much about it, Sir. It was rough time. Not everything was well documented. It is highly possible that she had been adopted or transferred to another orphanage at another town, but in the process her data got lost…"
Kenshin was silent while another police officer came in and sat beside his colleague. Downcast expression was clearly to be seen at his face. "Well, then I should get going. Thanks a lot for the…"
"Hey, Hayato, how did you get that photo?" asked the other officer to his partner.
This one took Kenshin's attention immediately. "This gentlemen showed it to me. He was looking for this girl…"
"Isn't this photo the World Press Photo of the year?"
Hayato could only shrugged. "Never heard of it, Toshio. I'm not into photography at all. You should ask this gentleman instead."
The other officer whose name was Toshio turned his attention to Kenshin. "This is the World Press Photo of the year, right? And how did you get it anyway?"
"Yes, it is. And uhm… you see, I'm the photographer…"
"What?!!" Toshio jumped from his chair. "You're Himura Kenshin?!!"
Kenshin only nodded as the young officer kept coming with his questions. "You're that Himura Kenshin?"
"Yup, the one and only…"
"Wow…" Toshio walked from behind his desk to Kenshin and shook his hand. "Congratulation, Sir! My name's Kawasaki Toshio. Nice to meet you…"
"Himura Kenshin. Nice to meet you too…. Are you into photography too, Kawasaki-san?"
"Yeah, I take photos at my leisure times…."
"What's with the commotion, Kawasaki?" A stern voice cut their conversation abruptly as the scent of smoke filled in the room. Kenshin saw a tall figure standing at the door to other room. He wore a police uniform too.
"Uh, I'm sorry, Saitou-san. I was a little bit too excited when I know that he's Himura Kenshin."
"So what?" The chief officer frowned. Saitou Hajime was the leader of the police unit in that office. "What's so special about him?" was Saitou's sarcastic comment as he observed Kenshin from head to toe.
"He was the photographer of the World Press Photo of the year, Sir." Toshio showed the photo to Saitou.
Saitou took the photo from Toshio's hand. "Indeed a nice photo." But as he observed the photo more carefully his frown grew deeper.
The change of expression on his face didn't go unnoticed by the other three. Finally Hayato dared to ask him, "May I ask what bothers you, Sir?"
"Nope. Nothing." The chief replied as he returned the photo to Toshio. "It's just that she resembled Kamiya-san's daughter very much…. No, I'm pretty sure that it's her…."
"You know her?" Kenshin asked hastily. "Do you know where she is now? And who is Kamiya?"
"Relax, redhead." Saitou was a little annoyed at the sudden attention. He was silent for a while. "Kamiya Koshijirou was my mentor. He was the chief officer of this office. Koshijirou-san was my trainer, my partner and my best friend. At least until…." Saitou fell silent again. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes.
"Until what?"
"Until he was killed during a shot party 13 years ago. We were pursuing bank robbers when they began to shot at us. I was driving at that time, and Koshijirou tried to retaliate. He got them right in their wheels. But a bullet from the robbers had nested in his lungs as well…. He died while we were carrying him to the hospital…."
"Koshijirou-san had a daughter. He brought her here every once in a while. Her name was Kamiya Kaoru, and she looked exactly like that girl on your photo…"
"What happened to her after Kamiya-san died?" Kenshin inquired further.
Saitou sighed deeply as he continued, "She was brought to orphanage because none of us could afford to take care of her. Koshijirou doesn't have any family members left. His wife died when Kaoru was still a baby…. We visited her in that orphanage every once in a while. But we lost track of her after that great earthquake. Until today I've never heard anything about her…"
"So you have no idea where she could be now, or if she's still alive?"
Saitou Hajime could only shook his head slowly as he blew smoke out of his mouth. "No…"
***
Two week had passed since then. Kenshin came back to every orphanage he had visited, hoping that the name 'Kamiya' would do better than just 'Kaoru'. But it was all in vain. Then he visited the neighborhoods where most of the victims of the great earthquake lived. He had visited numerous addresses, including the caretaker of the orphanage where Kaoru had lived. Some people did recognize her and her father's name, but no one could tell him if she's still alive or where she could be now.
Exhaustion began to come over him. For three weeks he had searched for her without desirable result. Hope of finding her was getting thinner and thinner as days went by.
Kenshin stepped out of the cab right in front of the hotel where he stayed overnight. The sky had already turned dark. After paying the bill he walked tiredly to the main entrance. Where are you, Kaoru? His mind screamed that question silently.
Kenshin was so occupied with that matter that he didn't see a man running toward him. He almost fell face-first to the ground if it hadn't been of his quick reflexes. But his photos were already scattered in the ground.
"Taxi!! Taxi!! Stop!!" The man who ran over Kenshin yelled to the taxi driver. "Stop, damn it!!!" He cursed when the taxi rode away from that place. Realizing that he had bumped into someone, that man turned to Kenshin and saw him collecting his photos. "Oh, I'm really, really sorry, Sir. Here, let met help you."
"It's okay." Kenshin replied as he kept collecting his photos. Much to his irritation, the wind blew some of the photos away.
"I'll get that!" That man quickly ran after those photos to retrieve them. He had long black hair and a dark gray bandanna was tied around his head.
Seconds later he was already at Kenshin's side. He grinned as he handed the photos back to Kenshin. "Sorry about that, Sir. I…" He stopped abruptly and snatched one of the photos at Kenshin's hand. "Hey, how did you get this shot? I know her!"
"What? Who?"
"I know this girl. This must be an old photo." That man looked into Kenshin's shocked face. "She is now the wife of my best friend…."
- End of Chapter 4: A Needle in a Stack of Hay -
Author's Note:
* I think it's a good place to stop…. Hope you enjoyed!
* Kenshin's past in this fic resembles that of Soujirou's in the manga…. About Kenshin having a foreigner-father… well, I didn't really have special purpose. Just to explain his red hair and his violet eyes, and the reason why his family hated him. I know, it's not done yet. More in the coming chapters!
* My endless thanks to people who have read and reviewed this fic. Your reviews are greatly appreciated! So please keep reading and reviewing…. Until next update!