* Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki. The Wheel of Time is the property of Robert Jordan.

* Words with (*) are explained in the glossary.

The Dragon Reborn
Chapter 2: The Two Strangers

"Yo, Kenshin!!" A boy with spiky brown hair appeared out of nowhere and slapped Kenshin's back playfully. But Sagara Sanosuke was taller and much stronger than boys around his age. As a result Kenshin got so unbalanced that he almost dropped the tofu-bucket in his hand. It was solely because of his well-trained reflexes that his dinner for that night was saved.

"Oro! Sano!!" The redhead glared at the taller boy. "I would appreciate it if you don't do that again! You almost ruined our dinner…"

"Heheh…" Sanosuke grinned as he scratched his head. "Sorry, didn't think you'd be surprised. Which is why I'm gonna ask you." He frowned. "Usually you sense me before I get within 50 meters from you. The truth is, I've been following you for 5 minutes and you didn't show any sign of sensing me! Unless you played dumb…" When Kenshin said nothing he continued, "What's the matter? You seem so distant. A fight with Jou-chan?"

"No, that's not it…" Kenshin replied slowly. Even though Sanosuke was his best friend, he didn't want to tell him about his encounter with the fat man, at least not yet. Murderer… That word kept ringing in his mind. So he ended up with an excuse. "Just thinking about those dreams…"

Sanosuke was one of the few who knew of Kenshin's dreams. But being such a carefree person, he never took it seriously. "Aw, come on! It was just a dream. Don't have to worry about it! Anyway…" He grinned mischievously. "… how are things with Jou-chan? Any progress already?"

The redhead was silent for a while. "I don't know how she feels about me…" He finally answered. "Sometimes I think she considers me only as her big brother---"

"Well then go find out! You'll get nothing by doing nothing…" Sanosuke snapped at his friend. "Tell her that you love her. Tell her that she's everything to you in this world. Tell her that she's the stars and the moon at your sky… Women love to hear that kind of craps, you know? By the way, Natsumatsuri* is coming soon. It will be the first time she is old enough to take part in the dance. I think she would want to go with you…"

"You know, I've been thinking about it too… To ask her to go with me to the summer festival, but what if she only feels obligated to fulfill her father's wish? Sano, I don't wish to force her if it's not what she wants. I can't do such a thing to her, can I?"

"Can't you just see that she loves you?" Sanosuke shook his head exasperatedly. "Gee… Kenshin, everyone but you two knows that you are head over heels over each other! How ironic… Sometimes I wonder how you can be so dense. I'll tell you what, if she didn't love you, why would she decline every offer from every boy who want to dance with her in the festival?"

His friend kept silent, so Sanosuke continued, "From what I heard from the Weasel, she's waiting for you to ask her…"

"She is?" Kenshin's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yes, she is! And you'd better be quick, cause those boys don't just give up so easily. Hiro tried again yesterday, but fortunately for you she didn't say 'yes'."

There were sparkles of gold in those violet eyes as Kenshin narrowed his eyes. "Hiro asked her to go to the festival with him? Again?" He muttered under his breath. "How dare he…"

Kenshin didn't mean the other boy to hear it, but Sanosuke did anyway. "See? You're jealous. Just admit it!" He smiled triumphantly. "Hiro asked her secretly without you knowing it because he was afraid of your infamous glare… Maybe I should remind you that only a few people know about your engagement. If you don't make any move soon, more suitors will come for her, no matter what Koushijirou-san's last wish was…"

"Hiro doesn't deserve her." The redhead suddenly blurted out.

"Care to tell me why?"

"He will only try to change her into something she isn't. Sanosuke, I know his kinds! We both know Kaoru-dono is different girl from other girls. Boys like Hiro merely see her as a wild mare that has to be tamed and caged. Wild horses must run unbridled or their spirit dies…" Kenshin trailed off, and then continued in softer tone. "I will never let them crush her spirit…"

The lanky boy let out a heavy sigh. "You know, when it comes to protectiveness over a woman, you are nothing compared to that scary guy…"

"Huh?" Kenshin looked puzzled. "Which scary guy?"

"So you haven't seen those two strangers?" Sanosuke shook his head in disbelief. "Where have you been the whole day long?! Doing laundry or what?" He smirked as he saw Kenshin's indignant expression. "Anyway, our guests arrived early this morning. A man and a woman. They're kinda… mysterious, should I say. The woman's a babe though she seems cold. The Weasel said that the man's a hunk, but of course, she didn't receive a death glare from him for whistling at his beautiful companion. Geez… even you don't exaggerate like that."

"Sano!" The redhead protested. "I do not exaggerate about Kaoru-dono. I've told you that those boys are simply not worthy of her!"

Sanosuke waved his hands off. "Whatever… Anyway, about those visitors, there were whispers that he might be a Warder."

"A Warder?"

"Yeah, a Warder." The brunette had that annoyed look at his face. "You know, a guy that is bonded to an Aes Sedai?"

"Hey, of course I know what a Warder is!" Kenshin replied indignantly.

"You didn't seem to…" Sanosuke shrugged his shoulders and went on, "His looks alone are enough to scare you away. Not to mention that he has a very long sword strapped at his back… The Weasel was sure that it was not a sword though. She thought they were twin kodachis…"

"Hmm…" Kenshin pondered about their guests. "We don't see strangers very frequently here, do we? What do you think they come for?"

"Oh, crap!" Sanosuke smacked his own head slightly. "How could I forget?! That's what I was supposed to tell you! They're looking for you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you." The taller boy pulled at his friend's long red hair. "How many redheads do we have in Akita?"

"But why me?"

"Heaven knows why…" He shrugged his shoulder. "They're heading to Kamiya dojo now if the Weasel's right…"

"Kaoru-dono…" Kenshin hissed. "Sano, I'm going!" A moment later he was already gone from Sanosuke's sight.

"And he said he was willing to call off the engagement." Sanosuke said to no one in particular while he looked at the direction where his friend ran off and then snorted. "Bullshit…"

***

At the dojo…

"Where is Himura Kenshin?"

The tall man was surely scary. His sharp gaze was directed straightly at her. But after Kaoru had gotten over her initial shock, fear turned into annoyance. "And who do you think you are, Mister?" The young sensei snapped at the man in black. "Think you can just show up and start interrogating me?"

Those icy blue eyes hardened even more, if possible, at her words. He was about to say something when the woman on the white mare put a hand on his shoulder. "Aoshi, hold it…" The dark-haired woman shot the man a look as she climbed down from the back of her horse. "I am Yukishiro Tomoe and this man is Shinomori Aoshi." She bowed slightly as she introduced herself and her companion. "May we speak to the owner of Kamiya dojo?"

At least she has some manners… Kaoru relaxed a bit and replied, "I am the owner of this dojo, Yukishiro-san. My name is Kamiya Kaoru."

Yukishiro Tomoe, a graceful and elegant woman she was, seldom showed any emotion at her face. But she did raise an eyebrow as a sign of surprise. "A young woman who masters kenjutsu? I must say that you are quite unique, Kamiya-san."

"I take it as a compliment…" Kaoru acknowledged her comments by nodding slightly. "What can I do for you, Yukishiro-san? Shinomori-san?"

"As what Aoshi said, we are looking for a young man named Himura Kenshin. We are told that he resides here."

"For what business, if I may ask?" Kaoru eyed her guests suspiciously. Something smells fishy…

Tomoe smiled slightly as she said, "I would rather speak to Himura-san personally."

A pang of jealousy stabbed her. She's a refined woman, not a tomboy like me. I wonder what Kenshin would think of her… The fact that Kenshin was a handsome young man, though small of frame, did not help at all. His flaming red hair and violet eyes were a few of the things about him that drew the attention of girls, even unmarried older women. Not to mention that he was a very gentle and caring person, despite his reputation as the best swordsman in town.

Stop fooling around, will ya? Kaoru scolded herself. She's probably twice as old as me, though I couldn't quite put a finger on her age. She has an ageless look to her face… Then she said aloud. "Kenshin's not here at this moment, and I don't know when he'll be back."

"I see…" The older woman seemed to be deep in thought for a few moments. "I'm just wondering, Kamiya-san, but the master of a dojo is usually male, isn't he?" When Tomoe saw that Kaoru was about to retort, she quickly added, "I hold nothing against a woman who trains in martial art; that you should know. On the contrary, such women have my utmost respect." Kaoru's face brightened. "I'm just wondering…"

"Well… my father, Kamiya Koshijirou, was the head of this dojo. He died three years ago, and I am the only heiress. Since then, Kenshin and I have been taking the responsibility of teaching Kamiya Kasshin Ryu to our students…"

"This Himura Kenshin… I take it that he's not your brother since you said you were the only heiress and you bear different surnames..,?"

"He's not." Kaoru shook her head. Though I wish he stopped acting like any… "My father and I--- Wait!" She narrowed her eyes as she realized what the older woman was doing. "Are you trying to fish out some information about Kenshin from me? Sneaky, aren't you? Don't---"

"Do you not have respect, Girl?" Shinomori Aoshi cut her off sharply, his blue eyes blazing in anger. "I will not tolerate any disrespect toward her…"

His stony gaze spoke volumes. He was intimidating, especially with that sword in his hand. Kaoru took one step backward unconsciously. She stared at him defiantly though, refusing to back down completely. It stayed like that for a while, until she broke the eye contact and said to Tomoe, "Yukishiro-san, if you'd like to know something about Kenshin, then I would rather you ask him personally." She put emphasize on the word 'personally'.

Did I hear jealousy? Tomoe suppressed an amused smile. This is interesting. And this girl is surely clever. Not to mention brave, since she has the guts to defy Aoshi's death glare… "Then I---"

At that very moment the gates of the dojo slammed open, revealing a panting Kenshin with a tofu-bucket in his hands. Seeing Kaoru standing in front of the dojo unharmed, the redhead sighed visibly and ran to her side. His eyebrows furrowed when he sensed the tension between Kaoru and the tall man. "Kaoru-dono, are you alright?"

The younger woman nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"Himura Kenshin, I presume?"

Kenshin was about to turn around at the sound of Tomoe's voice when Kaoru tugged at his sleeves, her eyebrows knotted in worry. "Kenshin, they're looking for you."

"I know, Sanosuke told me." He smiled at her soothingly and removed her hands from the sleeves of his pink gi. "You don't have to worry…" His warm smile was replaced by a polite smile as he turned around to face his guests. "I am Himura Kenshin. How may I help you…" The redhead trailed off as he realized that he didn't know their name.

Tomoe caught the hint and briefly introduced herself. "Yukishiro Tomoe. And this is Shinomori Aoshi."

"How may I help you, Yukishiro-san?"

"If you don't mind, we'd like to talk to you…"

Kaoru glanced at Kenshin, waiting anxiously for his response. The redhead weighed the matter for a few seconds and nodded slightly. Kaoru was about to lead the way to the living room when something Tomoe said stopped her dead in her track.

"Excuse me?" Kaoru asked incredulously.

"I said we would like to talk to Himura-san… personally." Tomoe finished with emphasize on the last word while she eyed Kaoru and smirked slightly.

The younger woman was taken aback. She glared furiously at Tomoe, but the older woman wasn't fazed at all. She kept that annoying smirk on her ageless face. Kaoru was about to argue, but she realized that she had no right to intervene as this matter concerned Kenshin, not her. She bit her lip instead and managed the most polite tone she could. "As you wish, Yukishiro-san. Kenshin, you can take them to the living room and I will prepare---" Kenshin's finger on her lips brought her to a halt.

Kenshin's voice was calm but firm when he spoke. "Whatever you wish to say, Yukishiro-san, you can say it to both of us."

Aoshi was ready to throw another remark of 'I-will-not-tolerate-any-disrespect-toward-her' when Tomoe lifted up her right hand, gesturing him not to continue. "All right. She can join us."

***

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Kenshin opened the conversation without further ado once all of them were properly seated in the living room; Kaoru beside him, and their guests across from them.

"They are matters regarding your past and your…" Tomoe thought for a while, picking her words carefully. "…special ability."

"My past?" Kenshin asked, eyes wide in surprise. "And what is this 'special ability' you're talking about?"

"We will come to that later. But mainly, I'd like to know how you got here in the first place."

"How did I get here…" Kenshin murmured to himself, loud enough to be heard by the others. "How did I get here…" Screams. Smoke infiltrated his senses. Fire dancing around his feet. Burning pain. And the memories of those dreams kept haunting him.

Kaoru watched him as so many emotions flashed in his eyes. It reminded her to Kenshin's unstable emotional state whenever he woke up from his terrible dreams and it made her worried. She put a hand on his shoulder and massaged it slightly, hoping to calm his turbulent emotion. Knowing that Kenshin needed time to regain his composure she decided to speak for him. "Yukishiro-san, you must understand that Kenshin doesn't remember anything about his past except his own name." She thought she saw a startled expression on Tomoe's face, but it vanished as soon as it came. As for Aoshi, his expression didn't change at all; his face was as stony as always "So he couldn't possibly answer your question."

"I see…" Tomoe nodded slightly. "Then let me ask it differently. He wasn't born here, was he?" It wasn't a question, more like a statement. "How did he get to live in your house?" This time the question was directed at Kaoru.

The girl hesitated. She wasn't sure whether she should trust these strangers. But she didn't have to decide. Kenshin's grave voice did. "It's all right, Kaoru-dono. You can tell them…"

"Very well." She drew a deep breath and began. "It was eight years ago. My father and I were walking down the main road when we heard the bushes rustling. The sun was beginning to set and we thought it was a wolf. Instead, we found him." Kaoru glanced briefly at Kenshin and frowned as she tried to recall that scene from eight years ago. "We would have thought him dead if it wasn't for his slow breathing. He was unconscious and his clothes were tattered. It was as if it had been…" She froze at the memory of Kenshin's physical state that day as a realization hit her mind. Light, his feet suffered on light burn wounds when we found him! And his clothes… it was as if somebody… Oh Light, this can't be true! Why haven't we thought about it before? Kenshin…

"What about his clothes?" Tomoe pressed on further when Kaoru didn't continue.

The girl gulped. She kept watching Kenshin nervously as she said, "It was as if… somebody had tried to…"

"To what?" The older woman kept pressing her.

"It was as if somebody had tried to burn him." Kaoru finished in a rush while Kenshin's eyes widened in shock.

- End of Chapter 2: The Two Strangers -

Glossary:

Glossary is (partly) quoted from: www.angelfire.com /ca7/ewot/index.html

Natsumatsuri: literally it means 'summer festival'. It is the yearly spring festival organized by the Akitans. It was an event no villager would want to miss. Delicious cakes and special recipes from the best cooks in town could be found there. Rumor had it that Okina was planning for fireworks as well. And then there was the dance. It usually began at midnight. There was one rule for the unmarried women: only girls who were 16 or older may enter the dance floor. The first time a girl took part in the dance was considered special in Akita.

Warder: a warrior bonded to an Aes Sedai. It is (usually) done with the consent of the person. The bonding is a thing of the One Power: by it he gains such gifts as quick healing, the ability to go long periods without food, water or rest, and the ability to sense the taint of the Dark One at a distance. He in turn protects the Aes Sedai from physical dangers. So long as a Warder lives, the Aes Sedai to who he is bonded knows he is alive however far away he is, and when he dies she will know the moment and manner of his death. Aes Sedai and her Warder can read each other's feelings. The most Aes Sedai have only one Warder bonded to her at a time. Some have none, and some others believe that an Aes Sedai may bond as many as she wishes.

Author's Note:

* Map op Japan: www.jinjapan.org /kidsweb/japan/map/j_regi.html

* Well, that's the 2nd chapter, folks! I hope you enjoyed… Got a clue about Kenshin's past? It will be cleared in the next chapter!

* This story will be different from the real WOT, though at some points there will be resemblance with WOT. I'm not gonna do another rewriting… And no, Amamiya-san, it's not gonna be as long as the real WOT. At least that's what I think… :-)

* Special thanks and my endless gratitude for NightRain, my wonderful beta-reader!

* Amamiya: the idea of Hiko screaming 'baka-deshi' around in Kenshin's head makes me eager to get to that particular part… Hiko is cool!

* link-no-miko: your 5th review and one before that did show up on ff.net, but it was gone with the wind. Fortunately your 6th review didn't. I thank you from the bottom of my grateful heart for taking so much effort. Anyway, I'm glad you recognized Tomoe. I was afraid that I described her so badly. And yep, it was Aoshi all right. I think I have another role for Saitou in this fic.
As for Misao not fitting Nynaeve's character, you are right. But I do not intend to make comparison between characters from WOT and my fic. Besides, I don't think that any of RK characters fits to be Nynaeve. Kaoru, with her temper like that, is the closest I can think of, and I'd rather not do it.
What you mentioned in your previous reviews is whether I'm rereading the whole story or this is my first run-through. It is the latter. Don't worry about spoilers. I've got myself enough spoilers from the site above. And my friend told me too much of what's gonna happen. :-)

* I'd like to thank all of the readers and reviewers! Please don't stop supporting me. ^_~ See you guys at the next update!