Disclaimer: Kenshin does not belong to me. =(

~ A Memory Forgotten ~

Chapter 6

As they rounded the next corner, Shiori noticed a flash of blue. He nonchalantly glanced at the retreating figure and his body froze in place once he recognized the man.

It was the guy who knocked him unconscious that night.

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Saitou noticed that one of the prisoners stiffened in front of him. He looked around to see what Shiori could have seen for him to react that way. He scanned the area around him and found it empty. They were alone in those alleyways.

Saitou jabbed the man who was not moving in front of him with his katana, jerking Shiori out of his thoughts.

Shiori jumped, startled at the feeling of the hilt engraving itself on his back.

"Why did you stop?" Saitou asked with a frown, putting his katana back into its sheath.

"I – I thought I had seen something," Shiori replied shakily, still recovering from the initial shock of what Saitou had done.

"What did you think you saw?" Saitou asked curtly as they continued to walk. Fuji looked over at his companion with an eyebrow raised.

I didn't see anything, Fuji thought. It must be all this stuff happening to us that is making him see things.

Shiori answered, "Umm .. I th- - thought I saw the man who knocked me unconscious that night." Then he added quickly, "But I was probably imagining it because once I blinked the figure was gone."

Sanosuke smirked.

Interesting, Saitou thought.

Yahiko, hearing this, snapped out of his thoughts. The man that had knocked Shiori unconscious that night! He remembered seeing his figure under the moonlight, wearing that blue gi. He quickly looked around, but to his dismay saw nothing and no one around. He let out a sigh of disappointment.

Fuji just looked at his companion like he was crazy.

Shiori shifted uncomfortably as he continued to lead the rest to their hide-out.

(A/N: About this particular scene, only Saitou and Sanosuke recognize what Soujiro looks like. Yahiko has only heard about him, so he cannot put a name to the face he saw. Even though Yahiko was able to describe to Sano what he had seen that night, Sanosuke does not link the person in the blue gi to Soujiro.)

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Soujiro was becoming anxious. He had not found any trace of those three people since that afternoon. He had been looking around town for an hour already. Where did they take her?, he thought in a panic.

As he was walking by an alleyway, he noticed a group of five people turning the corner.

That's the man who shot the dart at Kamiya-san!, Soujiro thought. What are they doing? At the moment when he was thinking, he saw that one of them had spotted him. He hurriedly ran out of the area a good distance from the group and hid from their view.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the two attackers from the previous night were leading three people somewhere. He squinted so he could take a closer look at the three following them.

Shock sketched over Soujiro's features. Saitou-san and Sagara-san! What are they doing here? Why are they following those criminals? His eyes narrowed in recognition. Then, Soujiro looked over at the shorter spiky-haired boy carrying a bokken on his back. He hadn't seen that boy before. (A/N: The reason why Soujiro doesn't recognize Sano and Yahiko as Kaoru's friends (as mentioned in Chapter 3) is because that night after the attack, he didn't get a chance to look at Kaoru's companions who were out cold on the road. He was too busy finding a doctor to treat Kaoru and when he came back for the other two, they were not there anymore.)

Curious, Soujiro decided to follow behind them, keeping a good distance from them so that they could not sense his ki.

As they were making a right out of the alleyway, Soujiro heard a hoarse laugh.

That laugh sounds familiar, he thought. He turned his heard around to peek at who the laughter belonged to and saw a glimpse of a husky broad shouldered man turning a corner. His heard skipped a beat and he felt hopeful.  There was no mistaking it, it was one of the thugs that was looking for Kaoru earlier that day by the road.

Forgetting his pursuit of Saitou's group, Soujiro hurriedly went to follow those three henchmen.

I will find you, Kamiya-san.

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After walking for fifteen minutes, the group finally reached an abandoned dojo near the outskirts of town.

"This is your hide-out?" Sano asked sarcastically. The place was so filthy and dusty that rats themselves wouldn't even make this place their home.

"Yeah," Fuji responded. It's as we thought, the boss and the rest of them have already abandoned the place.

Yahiko and Sanosuke gaped at the condition of the rundown dojo. Their eyes scanned the area around them to see if there was anyone there that could give them any clues.

Saitou just looked around while taking puffs of his cigarette. Then he spoke, "I'll get some of my men here to look around to see if they can find any clues as to where they are now." Saitou took one more look around and started to proceed back out the gates.

Fuji and Shiori looked at each other and followed behind Saitou.

Sanosuke and Yahiko looked at Saitou's back as he was heading out. They didn't want to leave without any information on where Kaoru was taken.

Sano spoke up, "Oi! Get your men to hurry up back here!"

Yahiko voiced, "Yeah! We're gonna stay here and look for any information."

Without turning back to look at them, Saitou nodded at their replies. 

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Soujiro caught up to the thug that he saw earlier and saw that the other two were there with him. They were in the process of conversing with another shorter, lankier man. He crouched down from their view and scuffled up closer to the group. He propped his back behind a big wooden crate and stretched his neck a little ways so that he could hear what they were saying.

"Why'd you call us back?" a hoarse voice asked.

"Yeah," the other said with a grunt.

"The boss has gotten her already. I was sent to call you back," an unfamiliar voice replied in annoyance. He obviously didn't enjoy talking to the other three thugs. That guy must be the shorter, skinnier guy that I saw talking to them. Their voices lowered from their original tone so not much could be heard. As he struggled to intently listen to what was being said, he could only make out some mumbling and only a couple of words that he could understand: Kamiya, captured, Higurashi, China, money . . . If only I could get closer without getting seen!, Soujiro thought in despair. But at least I know that they're going back to their hide-out. I'll just follow them.

Soujiro waited until he heard some shuffling of feet. When he thought it was safe, he peeked to the side of the box. They were already starting to leave. Soujiro got up from his hiding place and started to trail them.

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Yahiko and Sanosuke were sweating profusely. They had been searching the dojo inside and outside and have yet to find any relevant information. The place was practically empty except for the dustballs that were flying around everywhere.

"Achoo!" Yahiko sneezed. He wiped his nose with his right arm. "Che. We can't find anything!"

"Yeah. Maybe we should go check to see if Saitou has found out any more stuff?" Sano suggested while scratching the back of his head. He was at a loss.

"Yeah. I guess," Yahiko responded glumly. I can't believe we can't find anything here. It's like they just vanished.

As they were heading out of the dojo, a gust of wind blew and a small torn piece of white paper was found. Sanosuke saw it and picked it up. Upon examination of the paper, they saw that someone had hastily written the words: Dr. Shiraku.

Yatta! Sanosuke thought. At least we have something now. With a renewed sense of energy Sano called to Yahiko, "Come on! I think I found something!"

Yahiko brightened up and ran after Sano.

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In the bad part of Tokyo

The sun was going down quickly and the streets were emptying out. Soujiro briskly walked keeping close watch of the four people he had been following. He saw them make a right and followed. Their journey finally led them to their desired destination. The four walked into the building.

Soujiro looked up to see the name of the structure: "Todai's".  It was some sort of sushi restaurant. He looked back at the doors and went around to the back of the building.

He unsheathed his katana that hung from his side and using the tip of the blade cut a thin line through the paper of one of the doors in the back. Placing the katana back into its sheath, Soujiro crouched down a little and using his index finger, made the whole a little bigger. He leveled himself so that his left eye would be able to see through the hole. He saw a semi-dark room with figures standing to the sides. One man was sitting in a chair.

There was a group of about ten or twelve people gathered in the room. There are probably more outside of the room, Soujiro thought. Then he heard a swish. One of the doors had slid open. He recognized the four figures that came in, they were the people that he had been tailing the entire time.

As the four came in, they bowed at the person who sat at the far end of the room, the person that was sitting in the chair. Soujiro could not make out that person's face, but knew that he had to be the boss.

His eyes darted around to see if he could find the girl, but to his dismay, he saw no one. His heart sank a little, but he did not lose hope.

Then he heard another swish and some muffled screams. Soujiro's eyes targeted where the sounds were coming from and saw it was her. Kamiya-san!! Soujiro's eyes lit up at the sight of her. She was still okay.

She was held by one of the larger more bulky men. Kaoru was struggling in his arms. Her eyes were shut tightly and a couple of tears were coming out. Her wrists were put behind her and bound tightly with ropes. She had a piece of white cloth tied around her mouth. Kaoru kept shaking her head left and right repeatedly  thinking that it might loosen the tightness of the cloth so she could ask them what was going on. Instead, all they could hear were her muffled protests.

Soujiro clenched his fists and his heart tightened. How could they do that to her?

"Nice to finally meet you, Kamiya-san," the boss said with a smirk on his face. His voice was low and commanding, his fingers were tapping methodically on the floor as he was talking.

Kaoru stopped and paused stunned at the voice. She turned to the man who was sitting in the chair across from her in the room. Her eyes were wide with apprehension and fear. The little light that shone in the room cast an eerie glow across the man's visage. The smirk that had appeared across his face made the sight even uglier. She unconsciously shivered.

"I would untie that cloth around your mouth to see what you have to say, but I wouldn't want to attract any undesired attention here. I've suffered too many long years for this chance," the boss said with vehemence in his voice.

He paused awhile and looked at the girl up and down. She grew uncomfortable at the intense stare the man was giving her.

"Aa," the man said, "you have your father's eyes." He paused in thought and then added, "Your resemblance to your mother however is uncanny." The boss's eyes contained a glint that only Soujiro noticed.

Kaoru was shocked at what she heard. This man knew my father and mother!, she thought in horror. I wish I could remember what happened. Her face was flushed with anger. Her eyes narrowed at the sight in front of her. Meanwhile Soujiro, who was watching the entire scene play out through the small hole, was intently absorbed at what the man who held the girl captured was going to say.

The man let out a sigh.

"I wish your father was here to see how much you've grown. You know, it's too bad he was a traitor. He was my right-hand man at one point. You don't know how disappointed I was when I found out that he had started to support our enemies," the man said pronouncing each syllable with venom. Kaoru noticed how intense he was when recounting his memories and feelings, this man who was at one point aloof now began to clench his fists and his veins became more visible on his forehead. She grew a little scared, but she was determined not to show it in front of her enemy.

The man relaxed a little and began to talk again with that same aloofness. "You have your father's spirit you know," the man grinned evilly at her. "I can see the flames in your eyes." Then the man let out a low chuckle. "It's a bit enticing."

Rage flashed through Kaoru's eyes. Her muscles became tense. Her actions only provoked her capturer to smile with interest.

"Hmm . . it'll be quite entertaining to see my dear friend Higurashi's reaction when he sees that I had found his precious daughter and she is now under my captivity." All the guards looked at her, apparently they had not known that the Kamiya girl was the traitor's daughter. Her face was still expressionless and confused.

What is going on here?, Kaoru thought.

"I think I'll have some fun with you as long as you're here. I wouldn't want a pretty thing like you go to waste," he said with a smirk and then added, "Aaa … I had such a good time with your mother." The boss had a sickening smile plastered onto his face.

Kaoru wanted to lash out and punch the man because she couldn't contain her anger any longer. With a sudden surge of energy, she pulled out of the bulky man's firm grasp.

"Stop squirming bitch and be good!" the man who was holding her tightly commanded. He brought his hand up and slapped her hard across her face.

The sound resonated throughout the entire room. It was deafening. Unable to control his anger anymore, Soujiro put his hand on the hilt of his katana and was about to strike.

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- To be continued

A/N:

Please read and review!! Thanks so much for all of your support. For all the Sou and Kaoru fans, gomen . . …..but this will not be a Sou/Kao fic. However, don't be disappointed. Soujiro will be happy in the end also. .hehe but I'm not gonna give away anything yet.. and no I'm not using Soujiro as just some medium to bring Kenshin and Kaoru together (through Kenshin's jealousy). If you remember in the prologue, Kenshin has already expressed that he wants to spend the rest of his life by Kaoru's side.

Speaking of our beloved rurouni, Kenshin will be returning really soon..probably the chapter after next. Or maybe even the one after that?

Someone pointed out that Saitou is really mean. Well, I wasn't trying to make him mean per se. But he gets what he wants and he is direct. However, inside he is warm and affectionate (as shown through his thoughts about his wife). I think Saitou is one of my favorite characters other than the rest of Kenshingumi and Soujiro..hehe ^_^

And there are probably a lot of questions raised about Kaoru's parents. (hehehe . . . . I plan to explain it in the later chapters.)

I hope this chapter was interesting. I had a hard time writing the middle part of it. =/ Thnx again.

Special Thanks to: Nicky, wolfpack, Uenki, Princess of Darkness, Tsugoi Kakarlena, kenshinfan, kato,  Souryusen, chibi, Briar, shippo, beriath, and Sanosuke Sagara for your support!

Luna Angel – was ur comment a threat? Hehehe ;P