Hs Disclaimer: All characters of RK are owned by Nobuhiro Watsuki.
Author's Notes: Did you know that VIZ is coming out with the Rurouni Kenshin graphic novels for the US in November? =D
Also..thanks to all the reviewers for correcting me about Tokio's last name =)
Also thanks to BluBre3zeDr4g0nwing for adding me to your Favorite Authors List! =D =D =D
~ A Memory Forgotten ~
Chapter 21
"Excuse me! Could I have your name?" Kaoru asked.
The elegant woman turned her head towards blue-eyed girl and said with a smile, "Saitou 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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Kaoru and Soujiro began to walk back to the inn that they had been staying at for the past week. The ever-smiling boy paid for it with what little money he had on him. As they were walking down the dirt path, Soujiro looked a bit uncomfortable. Kaoru noticed it.
"Sou-chan, what's wrong?" she asked with a worried expression on her face.
The man turned his head towards her and smiled politely.
"Iie. It's nothing," he replied unconvincingly.
Kaoru could tell he was not telling the truth, but she did not push the subject any further.
Soujiro turned his head back towards the road and his eyes clouded over. I almost lost her today, he thought. He looked in the corner of his eye to see the lively blue-eyed girl walking next to him, wincing every now and then at the new bruises and sores that she had acquired during the brawl. He ached at the sight and wished that he could take whatever pains she had away from her. This won't ever happen again. I can't let it happen. I can't see you get hurt. He thought back to the scene that played out only a few moments ago. And then something hit him. Soujiro stopped in mid-step and jerked his head towards the girl. Kaoru noticed this and stopped following suit with the actions of her male companion.
"Ano . . Kao-chan . . .when did you learn how to fight?"
Kaoru widened her eyes and her mouth dropped open into an 'o' shape.
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Tokio walked back to the inn and slowly unlocked the door. She gave a surprised gasp as she saw the tall, looming figure standing near the window, his back facing towards her. The elegant woman gave a tender smile as she felt her husband's shoulder relax at her mere presence.
"Where were you?" Saitou asked sternly.
"Out buying some vegetables for your dinner, anata," Tokio replied.
Saitou glanced back at his wife's face with a gentle smirk. "I mean, why are you late?"
"There was some trouble along the way," she started.
Saitou's eyes narrowed as he quickly scanned over her physical features, making sure that she had not received any injuries. His breathing relaxed when he saw that she indeed had not sustained any injuries of any sort.
Her heart warmed when she saw her husband's concern. "It was nothing that I couldn't handle," she added as reassurance.
Her husband gave a low grunt as he turned back to face the window. He spoke up again after a few minutes of silence.
"I hope you took care of those ahous."
Tokio let out a small chuckle at her husband's words. "Hai, anata." She took slow steps towards her husband and placed a loving hand over his shoulder.
Saitou looked over to his side to see his wife's caring face and his eyes softened. He gave her a small, gentle smile. They both looked at the scenery from beyond the window in companionable silence.
The couple stood there like that for a couple of minutes before Tokio remembered something. She turned to her husband and said with a pleasant smile, "Oh. I met a very nice Japanese woman today."
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Yahiko and Sanosuke returned to the shabby inn that both Sanosuke, Kenshin, and him had been staying at. Both sat around glumly waiting for the rurouni to return. They deathly hoped that Kenshin would have at least some news about their Kaoru. The Tokyo samurai then decided to break the deafening silence.
"Eh..rooster head .. when did you learn how to speak Chinese?"
Sano looked up and his lips turned up into a small smile. "Well, when those damn cops were chasing me all around Tokyo, I left for this place. China. I needed to make some money and . . . what better way than gambling? But I had to learn some of the language before I could do anything. Those sneaky bastards could really cheat you out of your money if you didn't understand it." He paused and gave a sigh. "Lived here for bout five months until I decided I wanted some real Japanese food again." His eyes stared off dreamily as he thought of his return to Tokyo and to all of his friends.
Yahiko listened intently. So that's what you have been doing while you were gone. His eyes lit up with a bit of admiration for the man as he told his story. It must have been tough being in a foreign country . . . not knowing the language and not having any friends or family, Yahiko thought.
SWISH
The door to their room opened up. Sano and Yahiko's head instantly shot up towards the entrance. Standing there in the middle of the doorway, was a bedraggled and frazzled red-haired man. In his hands, he still held the now worn-down brown hat.
"Kenshin . . ." Sano and Yahiko started. But in their hearts, they already knew that Kenshin had not found anything.
The ex-hitokiri raised his head up and looked at his two close companions. He firmly clutched the Western hat in his hands as he gave a sigh of disappointment. He saw from both of their downcast expressions that they hadn't had any luck in finding any trace of Kaoru either. He let out a heartfelt sigh of disappointment. Without a word, Kenshin turned on his heel and left the room with his head down.
"Kensh - -," Yahiko started as he got up from his sitting position. Sano put a firm hand over the young boy's shoulder. The boy looked over to his spiky-haired companion.
Sano shook his head. "Let him be."
Yahiko's muscles relaxed as his eyes softened. He turned his head as he took one last glance at the door.
"C'mon Yahiko. Let's get some rest."
"Uhn," he replied in agreement.
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Kaoru lay in bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling above her. When did I learn how to fight? Who taught me? After an hour or so of pondering these never ending questions about her forgotten past, her eyes finally started to drift off to sleep.
Dream Sequence
"Kaoru! Kaoru! You need to keep your back straight and put your feet and legs in this position. Watch," a tall dark-haired man said.
A little girl with raven-black hair and blue eyes stood in the middle of the dojo floor with a small bokken in her hands.
"Mou!" she exclaimed impatiently as she stomped her foot on the polished wooden floor.
The older man chuckled as his brown eyes sparkled at the sight. He demonstrated to the young girl once again how to properly wield the weapon. The blue-eyed girl followed closely each subtle movement that the man used and tried to imitate it to the best of her ability when it was her turn again. She did it perfectly the second time.
"Good job!" he said with a laugh at the young girl's serious and determined expression on her visage. He gave a strong pat on her back. The girl smiled widely back at him as her stomach gave a low growl. Her face turned red as she looked back down at the ground.
"I see someone is hungry. Luckily, your okaasan has just finished making dinner for us. Come on, Kaoru-hime. You accomplished a lot today," the older man said with admiration in his voice.
Chibi Kaoru brightened up at the mention of food as she rushed out of the dojo and towards the delicious smell of her mom's cooking wafting from the confines of the kitchen .
End Dream Sequence
Kaoru gave a slight smile at the memory while she was sleeping as she turned to her side.
Dream Sequence 2
Chibi Kaoru ran over to her mom's room, feeling that something was wrong. She stopped in front of the doorway as she gave a small yelp of surprise. She quickly hid herself behind one of the walls as she gazed in at the scene before her.
The same older man was kneeling down at the bed-ridden figure of the woman. The silence at the time .. it had been so .. so deafening. The little girl was frightened at the sudden melancholic air that was brought about to her home. Then, she heard it. Sniffling. .it had been the man. He was mourning the loss of the woman. The little girl's heart ached at the scene as her own eyes began to tear up.
End Dream Sequence 2
Kaoru shifted uncomfortably in her sleep as she lay on her back. A small tear trickled down from the corners of her eyes.
Dream Sequence 3
An older version of Kaoru was teaching one of the few students in the dojo. Another older man watched her demonstration of the kata with a content smile on his lips.
"Kamiya-san will be so proud to see how much you have improved in the short time he has been gone," the man said.
Kaoru smiled at the prospect of seeing her father once again. "Arigato, Dr. Genzai."
KNOCK KNOCK
The raven-haired girl quickly excused herself as she made her way to the gates of the dojo. When she opened the door, her breath stopped short.
"Kamiya-san?" the stiff man in a soldier's uniform questioned.
Kaoru gave a slight nod of her head as she began to grow uneasy. She had a bad feeling about this. She took a quick glance at the dojo and saw that the older man was making his way towards them. Dr. Genzai saw the visitor at the door and came out of the dojo sensing the girl's uneasiness.
"I am terribly sorry to inform you of this, but Kamiya Koshijiro passed away yesterday morning protecting a foreign official." He paused and added in thought, " It was a very honorable death."
No response.
The soldier gave a respectful bow as he left.
Kaoru's heart stopped. This couldn't be true .. this can't be happening .. no, no, no, NO! The girl gave an anguished sob as she collapsed on the floor. Tears were falling uncontrollably down on her rosy-tinted cheeks. Dr. Genzai kneeled down on the ground next to her and tried to comfort her.
"Doushite . . . doushite . ." the girl asked brokenly in between sobs.
End Dream Sequence 3
The early morning hours were just beginning as the sun silently crept up into the sky, casting light over the shadowy streets of Shanghai. In a room not so far from the city, one girl could be heard sobbing as she constantly said the words, "Otousan .. otousan…"
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- To be continued
Author's Notes:
Please read and review!
Yay! So Kaoru has finally regained her memory about her father and mother. =D Hehe . . so it should be interesting when she meets up with her real father, Higurashi . .
Also, about Saitou and Tokio's relationship. Saitou is not the gushy type, but he shows his love to Tokio through everything that he does and how much he cares about her. Tokio understands this. (A/N: At least, this is how I imagine their relationship to be like.)
Japanese Translation:
Hai – Yes
Doushite – Why
Okaasan – Mother
Otousan - Father
Reader Responses:
Kenshinfan – kenshinfan, kusako, and anna . . thnx for the comments! Soujiro an infinite beauty? Where'd u read that from? Hehe . .
Wolf ^-^x – Yep, Kenshin will find Kaoru pretty soon =D It won't be too long from now.
Rc – No, Kaoru won't meet Saitou . . maybe later? I don't know for sure yet ..
Oni chan – This is a Ken/Kao fic . . not soujiro . . =( gomen! But it should be a happy ending for both parties . .maybe .. hehe . . you'll find out I guess. .
Shihali – Thnx for the correction!
Nine Fires – Thnx for the comments! This is a K/K fic. .
Kitty12perfecto – Thnx for the comments. I'm glad you like the story so far.
Kittenkatie – hehe . .that seems to be the main question so far. . kenshin will find kaoru pretty soon . . =)
Poppy2 – Haha . .that would be terribly anti-climactic if Tokio and Kaoru become friends. . lol . . that would be horrible . .sigh
Babo – Thnx for the correction! Hehe . . I'm glad u like this story! I love yours too!!! I especially like the new one "Going Back" .. it's awesome! Please update your stories soon!! I can't wait to find out what happens next. ^_^
Lain6 – Yup, Saitou's wife .. yes, hopefully that will help the matter somewhat =)
Kyozgirl – Here's the update .. hope you liked it.
Tracey – Aww . .thanks so much for your review! *author blushes . . btw, yes I do watch Inuyasha. I like that show very much! =D I was planning on doing an Inuyasha/RK crossover where Kaoru is a miko. I started a little bit of it . . . maybe I can post it in addition later on . .I'll see I guess.
Princess of darkness and me – Yes . .Kenshin will see Kaoru with Soujiro . . I've already thought up some stuff that may happen between them . .hmmm..in btwn 2 choices .. About how Tokio looks like . .I don't know . .but I just imagined that she would be very pretty .. and had to be special in order for someone like Saitou to fall in love with her. So I made her incredibly dangerous also . . dangerous beauty hehe . .
Ana – Thnx . .I'm glad you like it.
^_^ - I just made up how I imagine Tokio to look like .. yes . .she must be a very generous woman to marry someone like Saitou . .someone who is incredibly strong also .. (as in spirit) .. Yes, all the main characters in China now . . I don't know about Fujimoto though . .he could be lurking around there somewhere with his band of henchmen.
Blazes Purple Fire – Thanks for adding me to your favorites list!! =d I'm not entirely sure of how I want Kenshin and Kaoru to find each other . .or if someone else is going to find Kaoru before our rurouni does .. you'll just have to wait and see ^_^ About the metal fan, I think it's cool too! I think I read about it somewhere.. don't know where though..
CurlsofSerenity – Hi! I'm glad u like the chapter! Here's the next update! Aah .. no flying monkeys!
Beriath – ni hao! Hehe .. your mandarin seems to be pretty good ^_^ ..
Innocence8 – hehe . .i'm glad u liked my portrayal of Saitou's wife .. lol . yeah I can't wait to see Kaoru's expression when she realizes that..lol.. oh yeah . . I added some translation for some of the words I used. Hope that it helps.
Midnight Yume-chan – I'm glad you like the story =D hehe .. yay! I changed another person's mind about the Sou/Kao relationship =D I hope you enjoy the rest of it.