Disclaimer: RK is not mine.

~ A Memory Forgotten ~

Chapter 17

Kenshin sighed dejectedly one more time as he saw the crowd departing. She's not here . . He turned once more towards the ocean and caught sight of a brown object drifting gracefully down onto the wooden docks. The rurouni made his way over to the object and picked it up.

A hat..

Another soft wind blew and Kenshin noticed the scent. He turned the hat around and examined it. The smell, it was fresh. Jasmine. His mind began to race as he remembered the image of the two figures dressed in western clothing boarding the ship.

Kaoru.

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Kenshin, Sano, and Yahiko trudgingly trekked back to the Tokyo police headquarters, heads bowed down in defeat. The ex-hitokiri held a worn brown hat in his pale fists. He was lost in thought. It had to have been her! It had to have been . . but then . . then . . that means . .

Yahiko looked over to the figure that he had idolized for so long in pain. He remembered how both he and Sano had found him earlier that afternoon. Kenshin was standing by the docks looking towards the open sea in an almost catatonic state.

Flashback at the docks

"Kenshin? Kenshin?" Yahiko had called out to him while waving one of his hands in front of his face.

No response.

"Oi! Kenshin!" Sano called out to him while giving him a good shake.

Blink. Blink.

Sano continued his ministrations while the young boy looked over to the man's hand, which held a Western brown hat. Yahiko, curious about the object, stretched his arm and reached over to examine it closer. His fingers were within centimeters of grasping the object before Kenshin snatched it farther away from him. Yahiko was stunned as he looked up into the rurouni's face.

"Kenshin?"

Kenshin did not look back down at the boy, instead he continued to let his gaze stay on the Tokyo waters. In a small voice he said shakily, "It was her. . . she's gone."

End Flashback

Yahiko's eyes reverted back down to the dirt and pebbles below him as he walked on. Does that mean . . that Kaoru's gone?

When they had finally reached the police headquarters, the three went back into Saitou's office. No more introductions or questions were needed as the three had become regulars during the past two weeks. Sano stormed into the wolf's room and looked demandingly over at him.

"She's gone?" Saitou asked nonchalantly as he looked up at the three uninvited guests.

Kenshin's eyes flashed pure amber as he glared at Saitou through his red bangs.

The police officer smirked. "I'll take that as a yes." He paused and then continued, "You know that this means the matter is out of our hands. The police force does not have the time and energy to go out searching for some tanuki in another country."

"Fuck you! We don't need you to find Jou-chan!" Sano shouted in anger.

"Yeah!" Yahiko agreed. We'll go to China and find her ourselves.

Kenshin had remained eerily silent.

"Do you ahous not know how large a country China is? How can you expect to find one girl?" Saitou asked with a flick of his cigarette.

"I've traveled through many places in China and I'll get people there to help," Sano replied. (A/N: Remember in the manga, after Jinchuu .. Sano was wanted by the police and left for China. So this is why he would know the area and why he would know some people over there.)

"Yeah!" Yahiko agreed once more. "And I'm sure Fujimoto's men are probably after this Higurashi guy also. It'll only be a matter of time before we find her."

Saitou's lip upturned slightly. The boy has brains, I see.

"Tell us what you know," a cold voice commanded. The three figures turned to look over at Kenshin who had not spoken since they were in the harbor.

"Battousai . ." Saitou sneered and then took another puff of his cigarette. "I was correct in assuming that you would follow Kamiya to China and I have found out for you exactly where she is located." The police officer gave a long pause before continuing. He enjoyed pestering the already upset rurouni. He continued, "I believe that you will find her in Shanghai."

Right after he finished his sentence, Kenshin and the others rushed out. Saitou grunted and gave another drag of his cigarette as he sat back down at his desk. I'm becoming too soft these days. He paused and looked around his office. I do believe that it is time for Tokio and I to take a vacation, he thought as he pulled out one of the drawers in his desk. It revealed two tickets to China. (A/N: Saitou wants to know what Fujimoto Akane is up to since Fujimoto used to be a part of the Shinsengumi also.)

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Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Yahiko ran back to the harbor hoping to find another ship that would depart to China. However, they were sadly disappointed when they had found out that it would be an entire week before a boat would leave. They returned home to the dojo in a melancholy mood once more.

As they reached the gate, they noticed that one of the lights was on in the room.

"Oi Yahiko. Did you forget to put out the candle in that room?" Sano asked.

Yahiko's eyes glared daggers at the tall man. "No, I didn't," he seethed through clenched teeth as his hand reached over to the bokken behind him.

Kenshin looked angrily at the scene before him. How dare they . . His hand reached for his sakabatou as he silently crept through the shadows towards the lit room.

He was about to slide open the door when he heard a chilling voice rip through the darkened sky.

"Battousai .."

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"NANI?"

Dr. Genzai had just returned home to his clinic with Ayame and Suzume in tow when he had heard the news of Kaoru's disappearance from his assistant, Takani Megumi.

"Kaoru's gone. They can't find her . . . and . . . and on top of it all, she has amnesia," Megumi said in a desperate tone. The situation started to seem drearier by the day leaving the female doctor in despair. Even though she never outwardly acted like it, Kaoru was one of her dear friends.

Dr. Genzai plopped down on his chair as the information began to digest in his head.

"Megumi, what's wrong with Kaoru-neechan?" Ayame asked innocently as her eyes looked up towards the doctor.

"Kaoru-neechan!" Suzume echoed with her hands clapping in excitement in wanting to see her favorite sister once again.

Megumi looked down at the two with liquid forming around her eyes. I can't cry in front of them then they'll know something is wrong. "Oh . . . .  she . . . she went on a trip."

"Honto ni?" Ayame questioned.

"Kaoru-neechan? On a trip?" Suzume asked once again.

"Hai."

Ayame and Suzume looked down as Ayame started to speak. "But I wanted to see Kaoru-neechan again. I missed her! Will she be back soon?"

Suzume looked up sadly. "Suzume misses Kaoru-neechan!"

Megumi looked sadly and answered in a half-hearted tone, "Hai, she will be back soon."

Both of the girls brightened up considerably. "Then what about Ken-ni? Is he here? We want to see him!"

"Ken-ni! Ken-ni! Suzume wants to see Ken-ni!" Suzume clapped aloud, excited at the prospect of watching the rurouni wash the laundry and play ball with her.

"Yes, Ken-ni is here. But he is busy right now. We'll go see him later. First you both should get some sleep. You had a very long day."

The two girls yawned and stretched at her last statement. The woman tenderly looked over at the two of them as she picked the youngest one up in her arms and gently held the hand of the other one. She silently led them over to their rooms and tucked them in bed, giving them a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Oyasumi Ayame. Oyasumi Suzume."

The youngest one yawned once more and mumbled, "Oyasumi."

A smile reached the woman's lips as she closed the door to the room and made her way back to Dr. Genzai.

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Dr. Genzai was deep in thought as he heard the three retreating footsteps. Megumi was taking his two grandchildren to bed. How could this have happened? I never . . never thought that I would hear of Fujimoto Akane's name once again. How did he find out? How? How? How am I going to break this to the others?

As he was lost in concentration, the doctor didn't notice the woman's footsteps nearing him.

Megumi looked up at the doctor as she found him in the same exact spot she had left him earlier. She could see that the old man was deep in worry as his brows were furrowed and how his fingers kept massaging his wrinkled temples.

"Genzai-sensei?"

The doctor was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard Megumi's voice.

"Ah, Megumi-san. Sorry I did not notice your presence."

Megumi gave a nod in response as she made her way to the chair next to the old man and sat down. She poured him some tea as they both sat in silence. After an hour or so of solitude, the woman heard the man shift uncomfortably in his chair as he turned to face her.

"Megumi-san. I need to see the others tonight. There is something that I must tell them."

The woman nodded and without another minute's delay, the old man had walked back out into the night.

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- To be continued

Author's Notes:

Please read and review! Thanks so much! Sorry this was such a short chapter. ^_^ . .

Also new RK characters are arriving in the next chapter! =d

Papaya! : Thanks. I'm glad you like it so far =D .. hehe .. I like cliffhangers ^_^

Gozaru : thanks .. it was cute

Tin tin chan: I'm glad you like the triangle thing. I like both of the couples too.. but in the end . .for this particular fic . .I decided to go with Kenshin/Kaoru. Also … later on you'll discover that the title will not only refer to Kaoru . .but to someone else also … hehehe =x

Peach ^_^ : Thanks!

Ymir-chan : Sorry for waiting so long. School has been very busy. Anyway, this chapter wrote more easily. ^_^

Ryoga : Thnx for the insightful comments.

Ana : Hello! Thnx for the comments. Yeah, I saw the other story called "Forgotten Memories." Hehe .. thnx for telling me though.

Thunder sister : haha .. I like the tense-ness of the entire story .. expect to see more..

Princess of darkness and me : Naw, I'm not gonna stop the story until I finish it. It may take awhile though.

Kyosnekozukigirl : Did I ever mention how long and difficult your name is .. hehe I always have trouble typing it .. =P Thnx for adding my story to your favorite stories list.

Briar : Umm..gomen . .I didn't do the interrogation thing with the guy that Saitou caught .. cuz .. it would take too long .. so I decided to get to the point. But we'll see a lot more of Saitou later on. Hehe. .

Califpinay3001, chibifrog, Inugirl, ^_^ : I'm glad you like it so far.