Disclaimer: I do not own PMK or RK. This has turned into a crossover...(prays the rating is still right)

Chapter 5: Bandit Attack

Saya sat on the wagon with her legs dangling off the side. Her adoptive father led the wagon with a steady hand. He called her Junko, after his little girl. Narita Junko or Saya, her feelings towards Tetsu will always be the same, right? Narita had purchased a great deal of goods, fine silks, porcelains and spices. He will sell them in his hometown up north.

Narita had described the city from which he came from to Saya. It was second only to Kyoto. The Shogun ruled from there. Her home will be an estate of considerable size in the city's merchant quarter. Narita described his family for Saya as they left the outskirts of Kyoto. She will have two little brothers to love and play with, and a loving mother.

She listened with a smile on her face. Inside, she was crying. She was leaving all her friends behind. Hana, Akesato-nee and most of all, Tetsu.

The going was slow. There is danger along the highway. Travelers banded together for safety. Narita was no exception. They joined a caravan of traders and pilgrims. For two days, they traveled on the road without incident. Akesato was right about Narita. He was a doting father. He tried to make the arduous journey as comfortable as possible for his little Junko.

On the third day, disaster struck. It had been raining. The heavy wagons got stuck in the mud. Those traveling light hurried on ahead. It was getting late and these parts were plagued by bandits. A few merchants and their goods were left behind, Narita among them. Narita yelled at his servants to push the wagon out of the mud.

A flash of movement. Saya gave a silent scream as an arrow caught her foster father in the back. More arrows rained down on the hapless party. Men fell. Horses shied and reared. Women screamed...

Himura Kenshin was bored. After Ikeda-ya, they have received orders to lie low. Battousai has been effectively exiled to the countryside as a medicine seller. At least he wasn't the only one. He heard a colleague wound up in a monastery. They had sent Tomoe to accompany him, thank heavens! Then some joker in the command chain ditched a boy on both of them. Wait till I find out who... he sliced the bamboo stems in half. Two's company, three's a crowd.

Somehow, he had built up a reputation after bringing Tomoe back. Well, they don't expect him to leave her unconscious on the streets on a dark rainy night, do they? Someone left a basket of kittens in his room. He found homes for all the little fur balls. Kittens, puppies...but dropping in with a boy his age and expecting him to provide food and board? Well, at least he does help in the vegetable plot.

"Suzu, we better go back." Himura sheathed his sword. His companion nodded in agreement. Tomoe will definitely flip if she knew the boys had been training with their swords behind her back. Practice is a must, especially if your life depended on your skill with the sword. A bamboo sword cannot compare to the real thing. Besides, out here deep in the mountains, who's gonna see them? The path up to this clearing was overgrown and difficult to negotiate.

Himura thought Yoshida was a jerk. He made Hiko look like a saint. One needed to be both blind and deaf to live under the same roof as them and not know that Yoshida punished his page with severe beatings for the slightest mistake. When someone complained about it, Yoshida moved himself and his page to the draughty wood yard. He was a hard man and Himura often felt sorry for Suzu. Still, Suzu worshiped Yoshida. Himura shrugged.

Although they were about the same age, Battousai was the better swordsman. He has killed on many occasions. Something he wasn't proud of. Tomoe was gentle, sweet and...he loved her. So far, she seems to treat Suzu like her kid brother. Did she treat him as a kid brother too? Tomoe was definitely older than him. Older and very womanly.

Screams rent the mountain air. Cursing under his breath, Kenshin ran. Suzu struggled to keep up with the redhead. How does Himura-san move so fast?

Saya was terrified. She knew from the amount of blood on his clothes that the kindly Narita was dead. All around her bandits were killing her fellow travelers. Instinctively, she tried to hide among the goods in the wagon. A servant girl around her age tried to flee but a bandit caught hold of her and dragged her off to the roadside.

Saya shut her eyes, but she cannot shut out the girl's screams. They ended abruptly. She opened her eyes to see the bandit standing over the girl. Her kimono had been torn open and her throat slit. Then Saya felt herself being hoisted out of her hiding place. She screamed silently.

"This one's pretty." A lecherous laugh. She was thrown onto her back on the bloodstained earth. A burly bandit pinned her down. Rough hands tore at her kimono, hitching up her skirts. She tried to fight back. No...Help me, please...

"What the..." A bandit fell as Kenshin cleaved open his skull. Another two were swiftly disemboweled. The bandit who was pinning Saya down released her in shock as his comrades' innards flew into his face. Saya squirmed free. Kenshin rapidly made short work of the remaining bandits as Suzu finally caught up with him. "Man, don't you believe in leaving a few for me?" Suzu took in Batousai's handiwork. The guy's scary...

Himura Kenshin took in the carnage around him. Dammit! He was too late. It was a massacre. Painful memories from his childhood flooded back. Then he noticed the girl cowering by the wagon wheel. She was shaking like a leaf, her clothes torn and bloodied, but she was alive.

"Saya?" Suzu recognized her.

Author's notes:

Cameo appearance by Battousai. Senbi's wicked to use poor Suzu as a bloody lamp post. Hope Hitokiri Battousai doesn't knock his lights out for intruding on his 'honeymoon' with Tomoe. Maybe a Suzu-Saya pairing...(gets whacked by Tetsu-Saya fans)

DarkFusion: No Ryouma yet...

Okay, to those of you following the manga, please kindly play along. I'm writing it if Suzu had fallen in with better company after Ikeda-ya.Well, if you can call Battousai that...