Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and company are not mine, but Nobuhiro Watsuki's property.              

Author's Notes: I will not update until I receive 365 reviews. ^_^ hehe ..

~ A Memory Forgotten ~

Chapter 19

"Gomen-nasai little girl . . ." One of the older sailors started.

I'm not a little girl, Misao thought in anguish as one of her eyes started to twitch.

"Demo the next boat out to China doesn't leave port until next week."

"NANI?!?! But we have to leave NOW!"

"Sumimasen," the man replied once again as he turned around to leave. Misao looked at the other guy in defeat as she walked back home to relay the depressing news to the awaiting men.

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One Month Later

Two casually dressed figures were making their way through the bustling streets of Shanghai, China. (A/N: When I say casually dressed, I mean Kaoru wearing her gi and hakama while Soujiro wears the blue outfit that he has.) A melodic feminine voice was heard amongst the crowds.

"Sou-chan!" Kaoru called out to the man in front of her while waving her arms to gain attention.

"Doushite, Kao-chan?" The young smiling boy stopped in his tracks and turned his head slightly to face her.

"Do you think we'll find this man? We've been searching for him for the past two weeks. . . and . . . and . . .there's no trace of him," she said with a sigh as she clasped both of her hands together in front of her. The two of them had traveled on the boat for two weeks before arriving in Shanghai and have yet to find any relevant information about Higurashi Miroku.

The young congenial man fully turned around with his eyes softening at her statement. Soujiro saw that her head was slumped down and her bangs were covering the glum look in her eyes. He gently put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find him."

She looked up into his eyes with a glimmer of hope. "Honto ni?"

His lips curled up a bit higher seeing that she had cheered up a bit. "Hai." She grinned at his positive attitude and they walked together side-by-side as they asked around for the mysterious man.

"Excuse me, sir . . but do you speak Japanese?" Soujiro asked for the twentieth time that afternoon. They had been walking aimlessly and asking everyone that came in sight for information on Higurashi Miroku.

"Dui bu qi, wo bu dong ni shuo de shen me," a shopkeeper replied in Chinese while he continued to show off the goods that he was selling.

Soujiro gave an exasperated sigh as he wiped some of the sweat off of his brow with the back of his hand. How long will it be until we find you, Higurashi-san? He looked over to his side at the girl who had become so close to him in the past month or so and his heart warmed. Until we find you Higurashi-san, I'll cherish every moment that I am with her. His clear blue eyes dimmed a bit at the thought that they would not be together once her father was found. Demo . . demo . . she said that I would always be welcome in her home. His eyes glazed over as his thoughts turned towards being able to spend more time with her without having to worry about people going after her life.

"Sou-chan, daijobu?" Kaoru looked at Soujiro with worried eyes. He had been standing still in the middle of the street for quite some time.

Soujiro's eyes flashed a bit once he snapped out of his thoughts. He focused his eyes and found another pair of sky-blue eyes looking into his. He blushed.

His face is turning red. . . . .Oh no! He might be catching a fever!, Kaoru thought in trepidation as she quickly held out the back of her hand to his forehead.

Soujiro stumbled backwards a bit at the sudden contact. "Ka - Kao- - Kao-chan, what are you doing?" he asked in an embarrassed tone as his eyes widened.

Kaoru squinted her eyes and gazed at the boy strangely. "Are you coming down with a fever? I just wanted to check your temperature."

"Oh."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Ano . . yes, I'm fine. Sorry for making you worry. Arigato."

Kaoru's smile eased up a bit once she heard that her companion was doing fine. They had both become very close to one another in the time they had been together. And somewhere along the line, both had obtained some untouchable bond that none other could replace. It was almost as if fate had brought the two of them together and attached some invisible red string between the both of them.

The two renewed their search once more as the afternoon sun began to beat heatedly onto their backs. Both Soujiro and Kaoru were sweating profusely. Soujiro saw how tired Kaoru had become and when they had reached a place littered with tables and benches Soujiro asked her to sit down and rest.

"You look tired, Kao-chan. Why don't you sit here and rest underneath the shade while I go out and look for more information?"

"No, you're tired also. Why don't we both sit and rest for awhile?" Kaoru asked pleadingly.

Soujiro smiled at her image and politely refused the request. "No, I've got to find him. I'll feel much better knowing that you are resting while I look for him."

Kaoru pouted at hearing his words. "Mou!"

The boy knew that this was her way of saying that she would do as he said. He chuckled at the sight, but his face grew instantly serious when he told her to stay there and not move. "I'll come back for you in a little while, Kao-chan. Don't go wandering around."

"Hai," Kaoru said defeatingly.

With that said, Kaoru watched as the figure of Soujiro became smaller and smaller in the distance. Her heart ached a little. This was the first time he had actually left her side in China, the only other times when she had been by herself in this country was when she had gone to bed. But even then, she thought, even then . .he would make sure that I was already underneath the covers before closing the door and going to sleep himself.

The next hour and a half passed without much incidence.  Kaoru sat by herself at the table fiddling with a small teacup that once held green tea. She gave a defeated sigh out of boredom as her blue eyes scanned the area once again. Where is he?, she thought impatiently as she looked over at the horizon from where she had seen him last.

That's it!, she pushed herself out of the wooden bench and walked out of the place she had been in for the past hour. As she exited the small building she was in,  she thought,  I won't go far, I just want to look around a bit. It was as if she was trying to make an excuse to not stay in the same place.

She found her sandals kicking up a lot of brown dirt and dust as she walked a bit further down the street.

"Hey there beautiful! Care to join us?"

Kaoru's head shot up at the voice and looked around. She found a group of seven burly looking men surrounding a tall, beautiful woman dressed in a Japanese kimono a couple yards ahead of her.

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"Not in your life!" the taller woman said angrily as she clutched a basket of fresh vegetables in her hand. She turned her head up towards them in disgust as she walked from out of their clutches.

Not a minute later, another man said, "That's not very nice, lady." He grasped her arm with a big, rough hand.

"Would you please remove your hand from my arm?" the lady asked with annoyance. Her nose pinched up a bit with disgust at the sight.

"You guys heard what she said!" Another feminine voice was heard. All heads turned towards the direction of the voice.

One man smirked. "Aa.. another young lady for us to play with."

Kaoru's mind raced as she saw the man saunter lazily towards her. When she had seen the scene in front of her, she let her instincts take over. Protect. I've got to protect her from them, her heart said. She had raced back into the place where she had been sitting and broke one of the wooden benches, grabbing the wooden leg and placing it in her fists. (A/N: This will be the make-shift bokken.)

Her heart pounded loudly in her ears as she ran with all her might back towards where the men were harassing the woman earlier. She shook her head a little as she squinted her eyes and adjusted back into her present surroundings.  Kaoru noticed the man in front of her smirking menacingly.

"Well, well . . what do we have here? This one is quite beautiful also," he said as he lifted his hand to tilt up her chin. She slapped it away.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

The same man glared at her as he rubbed his hand. "That hurt you bitch!" His hands fisted tightly as he raised it, ready to hit her.

She jumped back and took out the make-shift bokken from behind her clothing. Kaoru held it level towards the midline of her body as she raised it and hit him straight on the top of the head. Not a second later, the body slumped down onto the floor. All that was present gaped at the sight before them, even Kaoru herself.

"You're going to pay for that, bitch!" One of the other men yelled. Kaoru looked up and found the other six men glaring with hatred towards her.

Her heart quickened in fright and anticipation as she saw the humongous men making their way towards her. She held out her bokken in front of her as she anxiously awaited for them to strike.

A fist came towards her from the right side. She just barely dodged it as she swung her bokken around and thrusted it into the man's side, knocking the wind out of him as he keeled over onto the dirt ground. Another two fists came towards her. Kaoru crouched down low, missing contact with the both of them. In a fluid motion, she tilted her bokken up and aimed it at the two mens' stomachs. As the wooden head of the weapon made contact with flesh, two succeeding loud yelps of pain were heard.

Four down. . . three more to go, she calculated as her eyes closely followed the movements of the three people circling around her. She moved her feet methodically with bokken clutched tightly in her hands as she gaged what her opponents' next moves would be.

Kaoru heard a rustling of cloth and her eyes darted to the origin of the sound. Two of the men took out small daggers that were hidden behind their clothes. They swung them menacingly towards her.

Her brows knitted with worry, but her determination and courage would not let her back down. I can do this, she thought as she clutched the bokken tighter within her grip.

"Just give up now, sweetie. You can't beat us! Three against one . . that's not good odds for you," one man said while twirling the dagger within his hands.

"I beat four of you already, I can beat another three no problem!" Kaoru retorted with her eyes narrowed.

The man's ki flared as he took a swing with his dagger at the feisty woman. She crouched down and rolled over stopping right underneath him, and caught him off guard while thrusting her bokken deep into the man's armpit area. He gave a loud shout of pain and astonishment as the dagger fell with a clang onto the dusty ground. She then knocked him unconscious by hitting him in the back of the head.

Then the other man came towards her and swung a fist at her. She moved her head sideways, leaving the man punching only through thin air. Kaoru grabbed him by the arm and threw him onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

Finally, getting back into her fighting stance, she turned around to locate the last one. Just as she turned around, a fistful of dirt was thrown into her face. She couldn't see anything and blinked furiously as the man with the dagger was about to thrust the sharp weapon into her chest.

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Seta Soujiro was tired. Extremely tired. He was currently walking towards the place where he had left Kaoru to rest and relax when he heard a shout of fright.

His heart stopped.

He knew that voice.

Kaoru.

All thoughts were banished from his head as he frantically made his way towards the scene before him.

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- To be continued

Author's Notes:

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