Disclaimer: RK is not mine =( even though I wish it was. . hehe

~ A Memory Forgotten ~

Chapter 2

Kenshin .. I won't be his weakness. And with that thought she was ready for the oncoming attack.

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Her attacker stood about ten feet away from her in his attack stance. It was similar to Gatotsu, Kaoru thought.  Something is different about it though. The attacker heaved his sword towards her in a rapid motion. She defended it by taking her bokken and thrusting it to the side of the attack. Metal hit wood. Both of their eyes met. None letting themselves blink. He tried to push the katana towards her neck, but his strength was surprising to him.

This is a girl! She's not supposed to be this strong! The first attacker thought.

The girl was starting to sweat. She would not be able to hold off his katana for long for her strength was diminishing n bit by bit. She had to think of an alternative method. She slid her bokken to the side quickly catching the masked attacker by surprise. Because of the amount of pressure and strength he was using to thrust the katana towards her, he stumbled when the force was gone. This gave her a chance to attack him.

She swung her bokken around and hit him in the back in a sweeping motion. The strength and force knocked him onto the floor.

Yatta! She thought. However, she was still on guard. She looked for the other man.  I can't see him!! Where did he go?, she thought. She scanned the entire area, squinting her eyes to look for the second attacker. In the corner of her she saw a shadow moving rapidly towards her. She got ready to strike. When she turned to face the attacker straight on, she felt something hit her in the back of her neck. Were there three of them? She thought. The last thing she saw before crumbling to the hard ground were a pair of blue eyes.

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Yahiko was on the ground and started to regain consciousness. Where am I, he thought. He started to have feeling in his hands and arms again. He groggily turned to the side. He saw two masculine figures, one with a katana and the other jumping away from him. Where's busu? Where's Sano?, he started to panic. He tried to move, but his legs wouldn't allow him to. The serum in the dart had not worn off yet. He was helpless. Yahiko turned his attention back to the scene at hand. He watched as the masked attacker was struck on the head with the hilt of the sword by the other one, a man wearing a blue gi. As the moonlight shone on him, he found himself looking at a boy who was smiling. The exhaustion of his earlier movements overtook him as he drifted back to sleep.

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The young boy looked at the masked man as his knees gave way and fell onto the floor. The boy didn't know what he was doing. Why did he help her? He had been wandering for over a year now and his travels brought him to Tokyo. During that time, he had not come to an answer yet.

Who was right, Shishio or Kenshin?, the boy thought to himself. Do the strong live and the weak die? Or is it that the strong need to protect the weak? He was befuddled by his actions. The girl was weak, she couldn't protect herself from the attackers. Yet he had protected her. When he saw what was unfolding before him, he acted on instinct. He had watched as the girl had defended herself from the first attacker, but when he saw the second one shooting a dart towards her, he ran to save her. He didn't allow himself to ponder more on his thoughts because it would only make him more confused.

He took the two masked attackers and bound their wrists so that the police could deal with them later. He saw three bodies on the floor. What am I going to do with them?, he thought. After more thinking he decided to carry them to the doctor.

He walked over to the girl and picked her up in his arms. I like this feeling of warmth, he thought to himself. He carried her down the road and asked the townspeople where the doctor was located.

"Excuse me sir, I have three people that need to be treated by a doctor. They were attacked and they were hit by darts. Could you tell me where the doctor is located?" the man in the blue gi asked.

Once he asked this, the body he was holding was starting to move slightly. He looked down at her. Her eyes started to flutter open little by little. The young man was surprised when his eyes met a similar pair of sapphire blue eyes gazing back at him. Her eyes are so captivating, he thought. He closed his eyes and shook his head trying to shake that feeling he had. He looked back down at her and asked,

"Daijobou?"

The girl looked at him and said, "I'm tired." With that said, she closed her eyes again. The boy just continued to smile, however this smile looked more genuine.

The townsperson looked at the scene and then replied to him, "There is a Dr. Genzai here, but he is on vacation. I'm not sure if the doctor lady is there or not though, last time I heard she had gone back to Aizu. Anyway, there is a doctor on the edge of town by the name of Dr. Shiraku. He is in the last house to the left of the street." Pointing in that direction, the boy smiled and nodded. He left to see the doctor. (A/N- Some of the townspeople don't know that Megumi is back in Tokyo since she just got back recently.)

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Sanosuke got up from his daze and looked around. "Jou-chan?! Yahiko?!" he yelled. He found a body not too far from his side. He got up with a lot of trouble and stumbled over to the little body. It was Yahiko.

"Yahiko! Yahiko! Can you hear me?" as he shook the young boy's shoulders.

Yahiko groggily sat up. He had a pounding headache. "What's going on?" he asked. He looked at Sanosuke and started searching for another. "Where's busu?"

Sanosuke looked around and couldn't see anything. He dragged himself so he could search around the area, but couldn't find anything. Later he found two bodies tied together. They were the attackers! But who had bound them up?

"SANO!" Yahiko yelled. Sanosuke quickly turned and looked at the boy.

"I remember a little of what happened. I woke up a little while ago and saw some smiling guy wearing a blue gi hitting one of the attackers on the head with the hilt of his sword, but I passed out again after that."

"Do you remember anything more than that?"

"No . . . do you think that he took busu?" the young boy asked worriedly.

"I don't know," Sano replied.

"We have to go find her!" Yahiko said with determination trying to get up from the ground. Once he got up, his knees gave way and he fell back down. The serum from the dart made his legs asleep and head feel groggy. Sanosuke saw this and decided to hurriedly find Megumi. He wasn't sure where to start looking for Kaoru, but he knew that they wouldn't be any help as long as the medicine was still in effect. So he started in the direction to Dr. Genzai's house, dragging himself along the way. He turned his head back at the kid and stated,

"Yahiko, wait here. I'll get Megumi."

Yahiko nodded and tears came out of his eyes. Where's Kaoru? I hate myself, I couldn't help her and now she's disappeared  again. What if something happens to her? What am I going to do? We've got to find her! He pounded on his legs thinking that maybe feeling would return to them by doing that and out of frustration. Kami-sama, please protect Kaoru.

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Kaoru woke up and found herself staring at some ceiling in a bright room. She looked to her right side and found the doctor talking to a young man. He was smiling and nodding at what doctor was telling him. Who is he? She thought. When she looked back at the young man, she saw that he had seen her. He walked over and approached her by the bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm okay." She replied

He smiled, "I'll be back later. I need to go retrieve your friends."

She looked up at him confusedly, my friends? Who are they? She thought. Then she could feel drowsiness taking over again and fell back asleep.

Seeing that she was okay, he quickly left the office and went back to find her friends.

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Once the young man got back to where he found the bodies, he was surprised to see that no one was there. He quickly searched the area. He didn't find any blood or anything on the ground. Who were they? Maybe her family? Friends? He wasn't sure what to do. He decided to ask around if the others saw anything that had happened. Most people replied that they hadn't seen anything or heard anything. Then he came across an old man.

"Excuse me, there were a couple of people lying here on the ground. Do you perchance know what had happened to them?"

The old man said, "Why yes, the police officers came here not too long ago and found them. One of them was tall and skinny smoking a cigarette. They arrested the two who were bound together."

"Oh, arigato." The young man said. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that nothing terrible had happened to them.  But why do I care about what happened to them? He thought. Maybe it's because I want to protect them. With this thought he turned on his heel and went back to see the girl.

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When he went into her room, he could see that she was stirring. He sat down in the chair next to her and looked at her. She looks so peaceful, he thought. Maybe I should go back and continue on with my journey now that she is safe. He turned and was about to leave when he felt a tug on his gi.

He saw a hand clutching his gi and his eyes traveled from the hand to the girl's face. She was still asleep. She was mouthing something on her lips. What is she saying? He wondered.

"Don't leave me .. Ke—" Kaoru whispered before her hand became relaxed again since the young man walked back to her side.

He was surprised by her actions. She must have been having a dream, he thought. He then decided to stay a little while longer by her side. What is this feeling that I have when I look at her? He wondered. Feeling sleepy, he lay his head by her side while sitting in the chair and fell asleep. He felt her hand being placed on top of his own hand and smiled (again a genuine smile) as he felt the warmth.

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The sun crept up and slowly and gently kissed the people in the doctor's office. The young man, feeling the warmth of the sun slowly pulled his head up from the bed. Blinking back sleep he turned and looked at the young woman that he had saved the previous night as he put on his usual smile. She was already awake. Her blue sapphire eyes looked at him and she was smiling. She looks like a goddess, he thought. His smile started to fade slightly as he was enraptured by the beauty in front of him. Once he realized this, he quickly put up his facade again.

"How are you feeling, miss?" he asked politely.

"I'm feeling much better. Arigato . . . ano, what is your name?" she asked.

"Seta Soujiro." He exclaimed. He didn't know why he gave her his full name. He's never given anyone his full name before since he left the Juppon Gatana, but he felt that he could trust her and there was some warm feeling he got every time he looked at her. Ignoring this thought, he asked her, "What's your name?"

The girl looked confused and then all of a sudden upset. Her fists were clenching and unclenching. Soujiro looked at her questioningly, his smile never faltering. What's wrong with her, he thought as he saw the play of emotions in front of him.

"I . . I . . I .. can't remember." She whispered and tears started to stream down her face.

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-To Be Continued

A/N:

Please read and review !! Thanks. It would be much appreciated! =) I hope the story is flowing well. So far Soujiro has saved Kaoru, but because of the serum from the dart, she has forgotten everything. Well, mainly her memories about Kenshin and the rest of the Kenshingumi. More will be elaborated on about the people that attacked her that night and who they were working for.

Those two attackers were taken by Saitou and the rest of the police force. Sano and Yahiko were taken by Megumi once she heard what had happened. So they're probably in Megumi's doctor' s office being treated.

You're also probably wondering why the serum didn't affect Sano and Yahiko as much as it had affected Kaoru. More will be told about that in the next chapter.

I'm not sure what I should do about the whole thing. I want her to be able to remember her name as Kaoru, but I guess that wouldn't really work either. Hmm .. I'll think of something. If you have any suggestions please post them!! I appreciate the input! =D

Oh yeah and before I forget. I wanted to explain my reasoning for Soujiro's personality. After a year of wandering, I think he's still confused a bit. He doesn't kill anymore though, but he still hasn't found his answer yet. And he hasn't gotten comfortable with expressing his feelings, mainly because nothing has affected so much that he would express his feelings (keep in mind he has only been wandering for a lil over a year).

Special Thnx to: Nicky, wolfpack, Uenki, Princess of Darkness, and Sanosuke Sagara for your support!