Chapter 2: Hello Dear Stranger
Author's Note: Hey all you peoples out there! ^_^ Back again for my second chapter and i am raring to go! I have finally gotten all of those icky and boring introductions done with in the first chapter, so now I am going to be moving into the cool action sequences and stuff. Yay! Btw, I got a p2p earlier this week asking me to tell what was coming next in my story...well...I'm not telling!! ::giggles at all the dissapointed sighs:: I guess thats all for now. Read and for the love of God please review!!!




Disclaimer: I don't own this series. i wish i did...excuse me whilst i go and pout >_

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"Curiousity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."
-Steven Wright


Kenshin studied the girl's face intently. Her pale skin was framed by silky black hair which, at the moment, was almost concealing her liquid brown eyes. She was fairly short...around Kenshin's hieght. Even through the dust that was plastered to her face and and the tears spilling down her cheeks you could tell she was around Kaoru's age. Her kimono was old and tattered and soiled in quite a few places and the folds of her black hair were oily with straw sticking out here and there. Kenshin decided that she looked like the world had given her more than her fair share of hardships for one so young.

Sano massaged his temples as if his patience was being tried. "Alright. Lets go over this one more time. You were running from these thugs. They chased you for no apparent reason-"

"They were drunk." She interuppted in a small voice.

He looked at her for a couple of seconds, then continued. "These drunken thugs chase you into our dojo for no apparent reason. All you were doing was looking for help. You weren't trying to steal anything or hurt anyone."

She nodded her head here and there, but never let her sad gaze leave the floor.

"They weren't thugs." Kenshin was looking out one of the windows into the bright morning sky. He had been silent thus far, so his statement had surprised Sano.

"How would you know?"

Kenshin turned back to face the obviously agitated Sanoske. This wasn't the first time Sano had questioned Kenshin's skill. Kenshin thought before replying.

"I know. Beleive me. There is no way a thug could enter a house and leave every single straw on every single mat undisturbed. There is no thug that can corner and chase his quarry so efficiently and dissapear so effectively. It was no thug. I would know." He turned and looked back out the window, lost in deep thought.

This answer seemed to agitate Sano even more. The events of last night kept playing over in his mind...

*****


Outside Kenshin's room, she was running swiftly. Down the hallway, through one door. Past a courtyard, through a pantry. All the rooms were blurring together in her mad dash. It was a flight meant for one purpose - to lose the pursuer.

Behind her, a door opened and a red haired man bearing a reversed blade silently stalked her with perfect efficiency.

From the other side of the house, another man was stalking her. One with much worse intentions...

She could hear him coming. He was catching up! She had to run somewhere. Her chest was heaving from her run and she knew she wouldn't last much longer. Sweat dripped down her face.

In the dark hallway she groped around behind her to search for a door. A door she might slip behind until morning...

She opened it with comeplete silence and slid it shut just as quietly behind her.

She sat down with her back against the door and started to gasp for air as quietly as she could. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck bristle and she felt the heat of some one's gaze. She looked up and to her horror, realized she had stumbled into a young man's room.

Sano was sitting on the other side of the room on his bed, gaping open mouthed at the wide eyed girl that was staring back at him.

"Who the hell?-" Sano was cut short. There were noises outside in the hallway. A few grunts. A scuffle, someone banged on the door, and then he heard Kenshin's voice.

"Kaoru! Sano! Are you alright?!"

Sano remained motionless and listened, his gaze still fixed on the girl sitting by his door.

A door opened in the hallway and Kaoru's voice joined Kenshin's.

"Kenshin? What? Whats going on??"

"I don't...."

Sano's door slid open revealing an angry Kenshin and a concerned looking Kaoru. They both stood facing him in the candlelight.

"Sano, are you alright ahh!!!-" Kaoru nearly tripped over the girl who had remained motionless with fear up until now.

Both of them looked down at her with surprise. "Sano?? Who?..."

*****


Now they were all studying her with the same looks of surprise.

"Would you like to tell us your name?" Kenshin spoke in calm and even tones as her turned to face her with a smile.

"Miho. Miho Ogaima." She didn't meet his freindly gaze.

There was an uncomfortable silence for quite a few minutes until Kaoru awkwardly spoke up for the first time.

"Well, Miho. You look like you could use a nice warm bath. It will take a while because of the frosted pump water, but until then I'm sure a clean kimono will do..." She trailed off into more silence.

"Who were they."

They all turned to face Sano.

"The men. Who were they? I'm sure they were chasing you for a reason." His gaze was unbending.

Miho gulped loudly.

"Sano! She needs hospitality right now, not a game of twenty questions." Kaoru reprimanded him with dissaproval.

Sano got up in a violent motion and left the room. Another awkward moment insued in which Miho gave a strangled sort of hiccup and collapsed in a faint on the floor.

"Oh!" Kaoru held her head up and checked her pulse.

Kenshin laughed. "She's fine. Really, Miss Kaoru, I promise. She just needs rest, thats all."

Kaoru glared up at Kenshin. "You think I didn't know that?"

Kenshin's eyes dialated "Uh - no! No! Not what I meant at all!!" He shook his head back and forth fervently.

Outside Yahiko laughed as he heard Kaoru and Kenshin. He turned to Sano, who was sitting on the steps nearby chewing on a fishbone.

"So I guess things are back to normal, huh?" Yahiko smiled at the sound of Kenshin's quick apologies and Kaoru's angry accusations.

"No." Sano got up and turned to walk away. "They aren't."

*****


Later at the dinner table, everyone was surprised by Miho's drastic change in appearance. None of them could believe their eyes. Was this graceful, petite girl really the dirty stray they had found earlier this morning?

Kaoru had really been able to do wonders with her. Obviously she had been busy all day. Miho's hair was down for now. It surrounded her head like a black cloud of silk. Her face was clean and pale. She sat at the end of the table, quietly talking and laughing with Kaoru. It seemed as though she and Kaoru had become freinds quickly, for they were laughing and joking over the steaming potstickers.

After the dinner was cleared and everyone made their excuses to head off to bed, Miho stood awkwardly waiting in the dining room.

Kaoru turned around.

"Whats wrong Miho?"

Her face was in a small frown. "You have treated me so well...I don't have anything in return to give you."

Kaoru laughed, as did Kenshin, but Sano studied her, a strange expression on his face.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that, Miho. It doesn't really matter-"

"Yes. It does." Miho had interuppted Kaoru a little forcefully. There was a glint in her eye suggesting she would not give up until she felt her debt was repaid.

"Oh..." Kaoru trailed off, not knowing what to say. She looked over at Kenshin and Sano pleadingly.

Sano merely turned away and headed towads his room.

Kenshin quickly took over. "You can work it off."

"What?!" Kaoru, Miho, and Sano said the word at the same time.

"I mean...you can stay with us. Work, help teach the students, do chores, cook. Anything! Just stay and work off your debt to us." Kensin finished with an innocent smile.

The idea started to warm up to Miho and the possibilities started dawning on her. She smiled with hope in her eyes.

"I'll do it. I'll stay." The words were determand.

Kaoru squealed with glee and grabbed Miho's wrist.

"Come on, Miho! You can have the old room next to mine. Its down the hallway from Kenshin's and across the hallway from Sano's...Yahiko has a room even farther down the hallway. It has a really great porch that opens into our gardens..." Her voice trailed off as she led Miho down the hallway, both of them giggling excitedly.

Kenshin turned to face Sano.

"That turned out better than I expected!"

Sano just snorted and sauntered off towards the courtyard, obviously intending to have a walk before he headed to bed.





Author's Note: Yup yup! No wait! don't go! I know this situation looks alot like the whole thing with Megumi, but its different, I swear!!! Please just give the story a chance!! ^_^() I know all you loyal fans out there are going "oh god, another dud. what a pity" but I promise it gets really interesting in the next few chapters. yah-hoo. here we go. coming up, you ask? why, more challenges for Kenshin, characters developing, new plot twists, and whats this?!! Cool! you'll want to stay tuned for all this cool stuff I have stweing in my little brain. Till then, this is Sabyl signing out from her troublesome little fanfic world...no i will not let you come in. =^.^=