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And thanks for all the wonderful reviews that I have been getting. =o) .. Thanks so much!!!
~ A Memory Forgotten ~
Chapter 22
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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Saitou slept soundlessly next to his wife on the bed that night. It had been a long time, a very long time, before he was even able to fall asleep with both eyes closed since the end of the Bakumatsu. He contentedly let out a sigh as he felt the first rays of the morning sun creep up against the windows.
The officer lazily got up as he took another loving glance at the woman beside him. He took long strides as he walked over to the window to look at the scenery before them. He thought back to the conversation that his wife and him had the evening before.
Flashback
"Oh, I met a very nice Japanese woman today."
"Oh?"
"Yes, anata. She helped me when those men were bothering me."
Saitou grimaced and his eyes darkened as he heard his wife's words. A low growl was emitted from his throat. "Bothering you . . ." he snarled through his teeth. His fists clenched tightly at his sides at the thought of those men, correction, any man who would dare lay a finger on his wife.
Tokio smiled gracefully as she wrapped her hand around her husband's lovingly. This calmed down the husband considerably. She continued,"the young lady had some training in some form of kenjutsu that I have not seen before. She had knocked those attackers unconscious without killing them."
Saitou huffed in reply. "I would have killed those good-for-nothing bastards."
End Flashback
Saitou paused in thought as his yellow wolfish eyes narrowed. Japanese woman that knows how to fight? Damn it, could it be?
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Soujiro quickly got up when he heard the sniffling. Kaoru! What's wrong?, he thought immediately as he made his way towards the girl. When he got there, he was shocked. The girl was crying soundlessly in a fetal position mumbling the words, "Otousan . . otousan" I've never seen her like this .. what happened? Who did this to her? His eyes instantly scanned the room (out of habit) and saw that no one was present.
He kneeled on the ground and lightly stroked her hair. Soujiro smiled softly when he felt that she had calmed down quite a bit with his touch.
"Kao-chan . . . Kao-chan . .." he whispered into her ear as he gently shook her.
Kaoru's tear-filled eyes blinked open slowly. It took her awhile before her vision focused and she recognized the figure before her. "Sou-chan . ." she said inaudibly.
"What happened?" the boy asked in a voice laced with concern.
"I . . I had a dream . . . and . . and . .I remember now," she mumbled as fresh tears started to spring up in her clear blue eyes.
Soujiro was shocked. She's getting her memories back! . . .demo . .why is she so unhappy? Does she have unwanted memories of her past? It hurt him deeply to see her so upset. Does this have to do with yesterday?, he thought as he remembered how she fought against those thugs.
"I .. I had a father and a mother," she began. " . . and . . and . .. they both passed away." She started to sob into her hands, her body shaking with sadness. "It . . it's not fair .. do you know what it's like . .. to find out that you have something . . and . .and then .. the next minute it's gone?" I just remembered my parents .. only to find out that I'm alone . . they're gone. I'll never see them again.
The boy looked sadly at the girl and then he thought . . Wait . .did she say father and mother? Then . .then .. Soujiro remembered when Fujimoto Akane mentioned that Higurashi Miroku was her father, the man that they had gone all the way to China to search for in hopes to regain Kaoru's lost memories. Then Kaoru's father died? His demeanor cast a serious visage over his being when he asked Kaoru a pointed question, "Then who is Higurashi-san?"
The girl looked up at him with confused and teary eyes. She cupped her hands over her face as her bangs forcefully shook from side to side as she shook her head. Kaoru's entire body was trembling as she brokenly said, "I. . I . . d-don't know . ."
Soujiro defeatingly watched as the girl continued to cry. He hated seeing her in so much pain and him. He hated himself for not being able to do anything to console her. But we've gotten so far already, he thought, we just can't give up now. There has got to be something more to this. With that last thought in mind, he urgently put a firm hand on Kaoru's shoulder.
"Kao-chan . . .Kao-chan," he said trying to comfort her. "I'm sorry that you have to go through this much pain. I .. I wish that I could do something to lessen whatever pains that you have."
Kaoru turned over to the boy and hugged him with all her strength as she tightly closed her eyes. In a strained voice she whispered between sniffles, "I'm . . . I'm just glad you're here Sou-chan."
Soujiro smiled slightly and returned the embrace.
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Early afternoon in the outskirts of Shanghai
A sweaty couple trekked through the dirt-laden paths towards an abandoned patio with a pagoda-style roof. The girl wiped some sweat off of her brow as she let out an exasperated sigh.
"How much further?"
"Not much," the stoic man replied.
"But we've been walking the entire two days!!! Aren't we there yet?" she complained as she plopped her little frame on one of the wooden benches.
" . . ."
The man sat down gracefully with both legs crossed as his eyes gazed upon the horizon just before them. He closed his eyes as he began his meditation rituals. His companion looked at him with a smile. How dreamy this is to be walking in the countryside with my Aoshi-sama!, she thought with a contented sigh. I wonder how Himura and the others are doing.
After a half an hour's rest, Misao started to become fidgety. The man got up and turned towards the girl. "Let's go," he stated.
"Hai!" Misao replied enthusiastically as she jumped up off of her seat. She walked (no . . it was more like bounced, skipped, ran) in front of Aoshi as they continued on their way. The girl continually looked behind her and flashed a bright smile towards the object of her affection as they walked down the path.
As night began to approach, their destination was finally visible within the horizon.
A temple.
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A tall, muscular figure stood on the ship's deck looking at the purplish-blue horizon before him. The salty breeze whipped across his lock-jawed face and mingled with his dark black hair. The man's brown eyes gleamed as he watched the Tokyo shores grow smaller and smaller.
He gave a triumphant smirk as he looked down at the piece of paper before him.
Higurashi Miroku.
Disguised as a monk in the Qinghua Temple located in Shanghai, China.
Has been residing there for about eight years.
No clear relations or connections with anyone in Japan.
"It'll only be a matter of time now, my friend," he voiced in a menacing whisper to no one in particular.
His finger unconsciously traced the faint scar on his neck.
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Soujiro and Kaoru walked alongside one another as they milled through the dirt and dust on the path. The boy looked over to the girl next to him. The tears in her blue eyes had long dried up and there was a clear spark of courage and determination found within them. That morning after the boy had comforted her, Kaoru remembered why they had traveled to China in the first place. Higurashi. She had to find him and after finding him, she'd have the answers.
Spending time with her the past month and a half had taught him a lot of things and had given him a lot of insight into her personality. Kaoru had a strong character and a strong heart, he thought. And that above all was much more important than being physically strong he decided as he remembered the old motto that he used to live and abide by. He admired her for her determination, her ability to care for others, her strong will and sustenance and countless other attributes. There was not one, not anyone like her that he had met in his entire twenty years of living. I wonder .. I wonder how things would have been different if she was there back then, he thought wistfully.
He reminisced back to his fight with the man called Battousai and he remembered. It's not too late for me. Himura-san gave me another chance. I can start over. He took a sideways glance at the girl next to him and his heart warmed. Thank you Himura-san. If it wasn't for you, I would have never met . . her.
Kaoru felt Soujiro's eyes on her and turned her head slightly towards him.
"Is something the matter?"
Soujiro smiled warmly and shook his head back and forth, implying that there was nothing wrong. Kaoru returned the smile. She thought back to the time that she had first met him. His smiles, she thought as she took another quick glance at the man on her right, look more genuine than before.
The couple continued to walk on as the sun began to dip beneath the mountains.
*COUGH, COUGH
Kaoru stopped in her tracks and turned towards the sound. She saw there by the side of a lake, a middle aged man sitting with his back to the tree. She could not make out his features clearly because of the shadow from the tree.
*COUGH, COUGH
Feeling sympathy for the man, she started to walk over to him. Soujiro enclosed his hand over her wrist, as his eyes questioned what she was doing. Kaoru turned around towards him and smiled. She lightly patted his hand to reassure him.
*COUGH, COUGH
Kaoru reached the area and could make out the man's figure more clearly. He had dark black tresses with traces of gray hair and a medium-tall statured body. The man's fine muscles were outlined underneath the dark blue and black layers of cloth he wore. Adorning his ear, was a small gold hoop earring.
*COUGH, COUGH
His body seemed to double over and shake each time he coughed. As she approached him, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a simple white handkerchief. Kaoru crouched down next to the man and handed it to him. The man's head slowly pulled up as he accepted the gesture of kindness in sincere gratitude. At that moment, startled blue eyes met her own.
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- To be continued
Author's Notes:
Sorry for the long delay in updating! I've been really busy with schoolwork and everything else. Also, I had a bad case of writer's block, I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with umm .. well, you'll see. On another note, I was posting a teaser onto Fanfiction.net earlier this week, but I found that it just seemed to interrupt the mood for the story. =( Sigh .. Anyway, I just posted it as a separate story. You can find it under my author's name. It's a teaser for: What will happen when Kenshin and Kaoru finally meet?
Reader Responses:
Beriath – Don't worry, Kenshin will find Kaoru soon! =D
Gracianeko – Thanks for the comments! Yes, they'll meet soon. =D You'll have to wait and see if the sparks fly or not.
Kenshinfan – Sorry this is not an actual update, but I was just playing with what would happen if they met etc etc. Hehe . . =x
Curls of Serenity – Aah .. Tokio told Saitou about meeting Kaoru. But if you see chapter 21, Saitou didn't think much of it mainly because there are a lot of Japanese women who are in Shanghai at the time and also because he was upset that some thugs had the nerve to actually think about attacking his wife.
Baby Kaoru-Sama – Thanks for the comment =D I hope you update your story soon!
^_^ - Yeah . .it was a sad memory. But she'll have some other memories return. Some more sad, and some happy.
Ryoga, saotome, jouchan, sugoichan, Inu Girl, tanukionna – thanks for the comments
Wolf ^-^x – Thanks =D I'm so happy you like it. Sorry it's not another chapter. But I'll get the next one up asap. =D
Boomerang-chan – Thanks for putting me on ur favs! It's really flattering for me. *author blushes. As for your question, no Tokio is never makes an appearance on the actual anime series or the manga. I think she's the number one mystery character in RK =D Oh yeah . .I'm not sure where the sweatdrop thing came from. Did you find out where?
Blazes purple fire – I'm glad you like the story. Yeah. I'm really flattered by all the reviews I've been getting. Thanks so much for reviewing! Hehe . .your comments are fun to read. Lol . .I would like one of those fans also. ^_^ Hmm. . as for the entire meeting thing . .you'll have to see what happens. But one thing that I will tell you is that the first time Kaoru and Kenshin meet .. Soujiro will be there also … =/ .. hehehehehehhhhehe *author cackles evilly*
Poppy2 – Hehe . .yeah, it will be quite a dramatic scene when they meet up. =x .. hehe .. I have a lot planned for it.
Princess of Darkness and me – Gomen this is not an actual updated chapter, just more for fun this was written. =/ hehe . .
Midnight Yume-chan – Sorry this isn't an actual update. I'm almost done with the next chapter. I should be posting it up soon. Grr. .writer's block .. =(
Rc – I'm glad you enjoy the story so far =D Hope the rest of it is up to your expectations.
OniTokage – Hehe . .I'm glad you enjoy the stories and you find the disclaimers interesting. Hehe . .those are a lot of fun to write. =D I hope you update you story soon! I think it's awesome.
Devotd-inu-fan – Hi! Thanks for adding me to ur favs list!!!!! =D *author blushes . .hehe ..
Papaya! – I'm glad you liked my portrayal of Saitou/Tokio. I think they're an awesome couple. =) especially cuz I think Tokio must be some woman to be able to tame the wolf.
Noner_89 – Sorry this isn't an actual update. I'll update the next chapter soon!
Chibi Fyrefly – Hi! I'm really happy you like the story so far! Thanks for adding me to ur favorites list. =) Hehe . . I hope you enjoy the rest of it.
Kitty12perfecto – Thanks for all the great comments =D I hope you will enjoy the rest of the story.
Ame Kurayami – Hi! Sorry about the confusion. Earlier this week I had posted up the teaser and I think you thought that this was the actual part of the story. Gomen. This teaser (filler chapter) was just meant to be for fun.
Catrina3 – Sorry about the mix-up earlier this week. =D Hope you enjoy this chapter. =D