Disclaimer : I don't own Kenshin or Soujiro or Sanosuke. =( or Aoshi . . .
Special Thanks to kittenkatie and CATGURL3 for adding me to your Favorite Author's List =D .. thanks so much!
Karen – Thanks for the email =) It was very sweet .. I'm glad you like the story =D I will be sure to check out your stories.
Also thanks to all the readers for all the positive reviews I have been getting =*) . . . .
~ A Memory Forgotten ~
Chapter 20
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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Yahiko paced in front of the inn with his arms behind him mumbling curses. The Kenshin-gumi had arrived in Shanghai two days ago and had yet to find any information about his sensei, Kaoru.
Shiksho, where is she?, he thought angrily as he kicked up some dirt beneath his feet. I hate standing here and doing nothing when I could go out to look for Kaoru. His eyes moistened a bit when he mentioned her name. An image of her popped into his head. Kaoru calling him Yahiko-chan, Kaoru running around the dojo chasing him with her bokken raised high above her head, Kaoru commanding him to do five hundred repetitions of a swing, even . .even . . Kaoru's poisonous food. Yahiko grimaced a little when he remembered the fowl tasting cuisine. Demo . . demo . .
A lone tear slid down Yahiko's cheek. He quickly brushed it away with the back of his hand.
I'll never make fun of your food again . . . if it means that we can find you, Kaoru, he silently prayed in his head.
"Oi! Yahiko!" Sanosuke called out from within the inn.
"What do you want?!?!" Yahiko yelled back, snapping out of his melancholy thoughts.
Sanosuke strut out of the building with a fishbone in his mouth and both hands jammed deeply in his pockets. "Nothing here. Let's go to the next one."
The young samurai let out a sigh as they began to walk to the next inn. Both Sanosuke and Yahiko had been searching throughout the streets of Shanghai, stopping at each and every inn, asking the people if they had seen her. So far they've only gotten negative feedback when they asked if anyone had seen a girl like her by describing her features.
After walking for another few minutes to the next inn under the blistering hot sun, they had finally reached another inn.
"Stay on guard and look for any signs of her. Also keep an eye out for anyone suspicious," Sanosuke warned as he began to walk into the inn.
"Yeah, yeah," Yahiko mumbled underneath his breath, "I already know the drill. You've only told me about five hundred times since we got here!" He waved his hands up in frustration. I'm not a kid you know!
Sanosuke looked over to the boy standing in front of the inn and cocked a smile. Yahiko's grown up so much. It's been a little over a month since Jou-chan's disappearance . . . but in that time . . . in that time . . Yahiko has changed. She'll be so proud to see him when we find her. His eyes glazed over at the thought of reuniting with her and sucked in his breath at the sudden emotion he felt.
We'll find you, Jou-chan . .no matter how many inns I have to look in . . no matter where you are .. we'll find you. And then . .. and then . . . it'll be like old times again. His eyes became a little dreamy when he reminisced about the times they had spent together in the dojo. He also thought about the times they ate together at the Akabeko. Kaoru and Yahiko would always bicker with one another throughout the entire meal. Sanosuke himself would often join in the fight when he was not eating, of course. And Kenshin. . he would sit back with a smile while he ate comfortably in the noisy surroundings. Ah . . .to have those days back . . ., he thought sadly as he walked up to the person standing next to the counter.
"Ni hao," the person at the desk spoke in Chinese. (Hello.)
"Ni hao," Sanosuke spoke in broken Chinese. He had picked up quite a lot during his stay in China when he was running away from the Japanese police. (Hello.)
"Qing wen .. ni kan jian guo yi ge ri ben nu ren guo le ma?" (Have you seen a Japanese woman lately?) Sanosuke asked. He then began to describe her : blue eyes, long black hair, how tall she was, her age.
"Aa .. dui bu qi. Mei kan jian guo," the clerk replied. (Sorry. I haven't seen anyone with that kind of description.)
The ex-fighter felt his heart drop another couple of notches. They had gone through so many inns and had asked so many people and each time they said that they hadn't seen her, he felt just that much more depressed. He would often try to keep his spirits up and be positive, but it was difficult. Especially when he had plowed through so much of the city already. Sano gave an exasperated sigh as he left the building and informed Yahiko that they would go ask somewhere else.
"I hope weasel-girl and Aoshi are having better luck than us," sighed Yahiko.
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"Achoo!" Somewhere in the busy city of Shanghai, a genki pig-tailed girl sneezed.
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Himura Kenshin sat on the concrete steps in front of the police station in Shanghai, China. His head was hung low, body slumped over, and his crimson red hair in disarray. One month and two weeks, Kaoru-dono . . . it's been that long since I've last seen you, he thought sadly. His vision blurred as he remembered her angelic image that had helped him through so many times since he had first met her.
It was just before nightfall in one of the alleyways of Tokyo. Someone had called out his name demanding a fight.
Matte Hitokiri Battousai!, her voice yelled in his mind.
Kenshin let out a hoarse chuckle. So headstrong and brave she is de gozaru ka. His throat tightened further at the memory and he could feel the sharp pain in his heart. Doushite? After all we've been through . . . why now? Kenshin's fist tightened in his lap as he ground his teeth in anguish.
I've got to find her . . because without her . . .
Without her . . .
I feel empty.
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THUMP!
Kaoru's knees buckled underneath her as she felt the weight of the dagger slashing through the splintered wood. She squeezed her eyes closed and let out a struggled yelp at the sudden impact. Kaoru fell helplessly on to the ground, pinned down by the man on top of her. When she had opened them once again, she saw him and it. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. It was so shiny and sharp that it had kept her mesmerized in its beauty. So beautiful .. and yet .. so deadly, she thought as she saw the dagger inches away from her chest.
She looked back down at the useless piece of wood she clutched in one of her hands. The last attack had completely mutilated it to be utterly unrecognizable. She silently made a prayer as she closed her eyes waiting for the dagger to find its place. I'm sorry Sou-chan, she thought as a shiny tear slid down her cheek.
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Soujiro arrived onto the scene. He saw the man on top of Kaoru with his dagger only centimeters away from Kaoru's chest. Shit!, Soujiro thought in alarm as broke off into a fierce run, employing full use of his Shukuji. As he ran closer and closer, the two figures seemed to stretch farther and farther away from him. I won't be able to reach her in time! Kaoru!!!!
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SLASH
Kaoru grimaced as she kept her eyes tightly shut. This is it.. it's all over, she thought sadly. A few seconds later she noticed something was wrong. Where's the pain? She slowly opened one of her eyes little by little. The man that was on top of her was not there any more. Her eyes widened in alarm as she quickly got up from the ground and saw it on the side of her.
Blood.
A dead body.
She screamed.
On closer examination, she saw it was the man that had attempted to kill her earlier. Kaoru grew alarmed and looked around.
"You . . ." Kaoru whispered as she saw a thin, tall figure approach her.
"Yes . . . I wanted to thank you for what you did for me earlier. But you know. . . I could have handled them myself," the woman said in a velvety smooth voice. The woman held a deadly, sharp fan in one of her hands. On closer examination, the shihondai saw that the woman was indeed very elegant with her hair tied back in a bun. Her eyes were a clear gray and her lips were curved into a thin smile. She was beautiful.
Kaoru looked down. She was completely embarrassed. The woman that she had attempted to protect earlier ended up saving her!
"Domo arigato," the girl replied in a timid voice.
The older woman smiled warmly.
"Kaoru !!!" a familiar voice screamed out.
Kaoru turned around and immediately felt guilty when she saw the taller figure a couple of feet from her. Soujiro's eyes displayed anger and he wasn't smiling. Not at all. "S – Sou-chan . .. gomen." Her head hung down low and the black bangs covered her eyes.
There was only silence.
Kaoru was about to look up after a few more seconds, when she was pulled into a fierce hug.
"Kaoru!" Soujiro muffled her name into her neck.
The girl's eyes widened at the sudden affection displayed by her male friend.
"I . . I was so scared. Please . . . please don't ever do that to me again," he continued.
His warm breath tickled her neck and she blushed at the intimacy. "Sou-chan . . it won't happen again. Don't worry," she replied reassuringly.
Soujiro's grip loosened little by little as he slowly pulled his body away from hers and looked into her eyes. Even though they had been so close to one another since they had been together, he would always be amazed by the emotions that were captured in those sapphire blue eyes of hers. He could feel his breath shorten when he saw her looking so seriously at him.
"Kao-chan, I'm so glad you're okay," the boy exclaimed while he gave a squeeze on her shoulders.
Kaoru smiled. They continued to look into one another's eyes when they heard someone cough.
"Oh! I forgot!" Kaoru exclaimed a bit embarrassed as she quickly turned around on her heel so that she could face the woman that had saved her. The woman smiled endearingly at the both of them.
"Thank you miss, for saving her," Soujiro sincerely said as he gave a low bow towards the woman holding the basket of vegetables.
"Aa . . . well, this young lady was good enough to want to help me out when those men were bothering me. I couldn't stand by and not do anything," she replied.
Soujiro smiled.
"Well, I better get going. I don't want my husband to get worried about my being gone so long," she said as she began walking back towards the direction she had been going earlier. She had taken a few steps before she heard a voice call out,
"Excuse me! Could I have your name?" Kaoru asked.
The elegant woman turned her head towards blue-eyed girl and said with a smile, "Hajime Tokio. Pleased to meet you."
"Arigato, Tokio-san!" Kaoru said in a lighthearted tone as she gave a small bow.
Tokio tilted her head slightly in reply as she continued on her journey home in the setting sun.
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- To be continued
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Author's Notes:
Please read and review! Thanks much! I'm so glad that everyone that I've gotten reviews from enjoys this fic so far =d Also .. it'll probably be awhile before I get to update again. .. gomen. I have a lot of schoolwork coming up so I won't have much time to devote to writing. Here are some clarifications on anything that could be questionable in this chapter:
The reason for Kenshin's group coming so late is because their ship was delayed on the ocean.
The weapon that Tokio used to kill Kaoru's attacker was the metal sharp fan. There are holes within it so that daggers may fly out. So the little daggers that flew out of the fan, killed the man.
Also, Kaoru's memory is coming back little by little. But nothing significant. She fought because her instinct to protect the other woman kicked in.
Reader Responses:
Briar : Hehe . .as you can see I used the idea about Kaoru meeting Tokio and her using Kamiya Kasshin Ryu =D hmm .. what will Saitou's reaction be I wonder? =P anyway, thanks so much for the idea and input =D.. Also this is POST-ENISHI .. I think I mentioned in the very first chapter that there would be Jinchuu spoilers in this story. Also .. umm.. maybe you'll see Enishi? Maybe not . .hehe . . I guess you'll just have to wait.
Kenshinfan : Thanks for the comments =) lol .. the apocalypse =D Your conversations between ur alter-egos (is that what they are?) are really fun to read.
Kittenkatie – Kaoru and Kenshin will find each other soon . . don't know how much longer though =)
Catgurl3 – hehe . I'm glad you think Sou/Kaoru are a cute couple =D I think so too!!!
Ana – here's the updated chapter. I hope you like it.
Califpinay3001 – I hope this one was a bit longer for you. =)
Pzanna – I totally sympathize with you about schoolwork. Aigo . . I feel it too. I have a Neurobiology test coming up. I will be studying that soon.
^_^ - Yeah .. I'm glad Kaoru was safe too .. it would really really suck if she died in this story. Blech .. I can just imagine the flames for that one. Hehe
Innocence8 – I'm glad you like my story so far. Expect to see some unexpected twists…. Maybe. .? heh
CurlsofSerenity, Poppy2, Kyozgirl, saotome, PrincessofDarkness and me, Katgurl1 – I'm happy I'm keeping you interested. . hehe =D
Tracey – Aww. . thanks .. the comment was really sweet. . =) I have fun thinking up scenarios for both Soujiro and Kaoru .. hmm. . I can't wait to start writing up the chapters when Kenshin and Kaoru will meet!
Roseofthedesert – Thanks. Yes, Kenshin will find Kaoru sometime soon in Shanghai . . hmm it would be awful to just leave him searching for her forever. .
Blazes purple fire – Haha. That was funny. Well, this update came pretty quickly I think. I didn't expect to get so many reviews in so little time. =) Thanks for the comments though, they were very heartwarming to read.
Gracianeko – Kaoru only remembers bits of her past. Nothing to make sense of yet. Her instincts kicked in when she saw the woman being taunted by those men. Yes, she'll question her ability in the later chapter. =)