Disclaimer:
I do not own Rurouni Kenshin no matter how much I wish. It belongs to its respective owners and I'm only playing with the characters .

Author Notes:
Tokio: Age 15
Saitou: Age 18
Italics - Indicates thought/internal dialogue

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Oboruzuki

Hazy Moon

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oborozukiyo ni niru mono zo naki

When the hazy moon shin­es dimly, the is nothing that can compare..

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Ricepaper dreams. . .

I stand in the middle of a plain room.

Reaching forward I slowly ease the shoji (1) apart trying to make sense of where I am. I'm surprised to find myself in another room identical to the previous one.

Running forward I pull the shoji away to reveal yet another room.

Where am I?

Five rooms down and still no sign of an exit.

This is not right...

I'm starting to feel I am being watched though I see no sign of anybody around me. The fear of this unseen presence stirs me into action and I no longer bother with opening the shoji gently. I dig my fingers into the delicate rice paper and pull them aside as fast I can, running from room to room in a careless need to get away.

My desperation to get away causes me to stumble while trying to glance backwards to locate the presence.

I break through the next shoji tripping over a tatami mat and lie stunned on the ground.

Taking a deep, calming breath I got up and stare down the corridor of the open shoji. The identicle rooms I'd come through stretched before me.

Is there no way out of here?

I turn and to open the next shoji when I see red Kanji adorning the rice paper. Somehow I feel compelled to touch it.

The lettering is still damp and my finger is cover in red when I pull back. Curious, I inspect the red ink closer.

'This is not ink,'my mind whispers to me.

Horrified I smell the thick liquid -- confirming my suspicion.

It's blood

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A cool cloth pressed to my head slowly brings me out of my surreal dreams of blood.

"So you've finally woken up"

I find myself on the second floor of an unknown house in a small room. A window to my left overlooks a small garden and koi pond. To my right is small middle age woman kneeling beside the futon I'm laying on.

"My name is Azumi, child. Sanbantai (2) brought you in."

Azumi leaned forward to help me to sit upright.

I removed the cloth from my head and handed to her, which she returned to a small dish of water. I could feel her eyes on me as I sat there silently.

"My names Tokio Takagi," I whisper to the woman, breaking the silence.

I owed her an answer as she had been caring for me and I felt rude and childish sitting there ignoring her.

"Hmm, I thought so. Atsuhira said you were in the room with Kohachirou Takagi and the other man. And you didn't seem the type to be a pleasure woman with all that finery.."

I only half paid attention to what the woman was saying. I was more preoccupied trying to remember something important about my father. However the comment on clothing jerked me from my thoughts and made me see that I was wearing a plain cotton yukata.

"Do you know where my kimono is, Azumi-dono?"

A little flattery never hurt anyone and I was growing uneasy. I didn't remember anything of yesterday or how I ended up here. I needed to go home to get my bearings.

Azumi looked surprised.

"Just call me Azumi, Tokio," she said before standing and removing my neatly folded kimono from the drawers nears the door of the room.

"So where do you think you're going girl?"

Azumi and I turn to see the shoji open and a tall man with amber eyes leaning against the wall.

"Saitou, don't be rude. You may be a sword prodigy but you are still a boy," Azumi scolded him, placing the Kimono on the futon next to me.

Saitou, I've heard that name before...

Saitou stared coldly at Azumi.

"I'm not a boy."

Amber eyes...Shinsengumi...Father...

"No I suppose you're not, but you are only 18 and the youngest under my husbands command," sighed Azumi. "I worry for you Saitou, to be surrounded by death and blood so early on in your life."

Blood....Fathers blood....

I broke down, sobbing quietly as the memory of my fathers death hit me. Azumi and Saitou had stopped talking and I could feel Azumi drawing me into a gentle embrace, trying to soothe my pain.

"What would father think of me crying?" I asked myself, trying to calm myself. "He raised me to be strong and here I am acting like an over emotional woman. No a child like Saitou thought."

Getting my emotions under control I slowly extracted myself from Azumi's embrace finding refuge in my 'stone' face. (3)

Looking calm and collected despite my inner turmoil, I wiped my tears from my face using the sleeve of my yukata. I could still see traces of concern on Azumi's face. I took a glance at Saitou, he seemed to have a slight expression of surprise at my quick recovery.

"I'm sorry," I said to Azumi and Saitou giving a small bow from my kneeled position on the futon. Apologizing for my strange behavior.

"The death of my father has only just caught up with me."

I was proud of myself. My voice held no tremor and I knew my face did not hint at the cost it took me to keep this calm exterior.

Saitou had a bored expression on his face as he stepped fully into the room.

"I'm Haijime Saitou of Unit Three of the Shinsengumi"

"I'm Tokio Takagi, daughter of Kohachirou Takagi" I replied.

He just nodded at my introduction.

"Commander Kondou Isami Masanobu wishes to talk to you. I'm here to bring you to him to discuss your father."

A small frown has made its way onto his face. He seems annoyed at being a messenger.

I Nod numbly in agreement as Azumi shuts the shoji behind Saitou to wait outside as I dress.

Azumi helped me into the heavy embroidered kimono's (4) and fastened them firmly and efficiently. She helped part my hair and twist it into a simple knot at nape of my neck using a small amount of hair binding tape and some pins.

Murmuring my thanks to Azum,i I exit the room. Saitou gives me a quick glance, then turns down the corridor leaving me to following quietly.

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I bow to Kondou-sama in an expression of gratitude for his generousity. I had been talking with him for more than an hour about the circumstances of my fathers death and my position in the situation.

Since all my relaitives are situated in Aizu and I was the sole benifactor of the entire estate and wealth of my father, Kondou expressed his wish for me to remain in the Shinsengumi Headquaters.

"It's safer for you here." he said.

He did not need to mention to that many of my father perspective suitors for me were Shinsengumi members. By me remaining here there was still a good chance of getting married to a high ranking Shinsengumi member and ensuring the financial support of the Takagi Family.

I agreed of course. To return to Aizu would mean loss of freedom instantly. Relaitives would quickly marry me off to strengthen alliances with the Niwa clan. The Takagi family have and Niwa family have always intermarried in at least once in every generation.

"So its agreed" he stated. "You will be placed with Atsuhira Shikibu, Third Captain of the Shinsengumi and his wife Azumi."

A small movement of his hand indicated that this meeting was over. And I returned to my room pondering the twists and turns my life had taken.

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Yay, Chapter 2 Is here!! lol. Capter 3's on the way too! Special thanks to HeiBai-Ameyubi who beta read this chapter. I didn't fully comprehend how atrocious my spelling and grammer was until Heibai corrected them.

Oh god I'm an evanescence nut ''. I listened continuously to 'Missing', 'Breathe No More' and 'Thoughtless' while writing this..

LOL, Saitou being called a boy falls over laughing

Well you can probably tell by Tokio's and Saitou's ages that I've set this story towards the beginning of the Bakumatsu. So yes Saitou is only a teenager but he's still looks almost the same as the man we know. Saitou is still only a unit member here, not the Captain of Unit 3 yet.

Also a note to those who might have thought Tokio was dumb for not noticing her father and the matchmaker murdered in the same room. Firstly she is behind a screen so she is shielded from the view of her father and secondly they are in an inn so its noisy.

Lanfear

(1) - Shoji - a translucent sliding screen made of a wooden frame covered with rice paper. (You may recognise this scene from the animematrix which gave me the idea for Tokio's dream. )

(2) - Sanbantai - Unit Three of the Shinsengumi

(3) - To hide your emotions. Think of Aoshi, he's stone faced all the time P. A common habit in Japan.

(4) - There is an inner kimono and a outer kimono that is worn. I'm not sure if this is right for this time period but for more formal occassions and outer kimono and up to 4 thin inner kimonos can be worn. However only the innermost and outer kimono are seen unless when kneeling. When kneeling a woman can arrange her kimono hems to display all the layers.

Reviews:

HeiBai-Ameyubi - Thanks for pointing out some of my mistakes I tend to have a habit of making really long sentences . And thank you for the offer of beta'ing my story!

Miburo Kid - Yes there are probably some spelling mistakes in there '' But I'm Australian and I know the American spelling of certain words aren't the same as mine, so some of them aren't mistakes from an Aussie POV. Despite that, thankyou for pointing it out, I'll try using the American spellings of words. o

Mary-Ann - Ah yes, I'm trying for a new approach to Tokio and Saitou's meeting. As for me knowing about the Shinsengumi, I really don't know much but the basics. I've read most of the TokioxSaitou stories here on which has helped give me a background.

Imalefty - Thanks D. Sequel won't be on its way for some time though. This is going to be a major project for me now.

anonymous - I'm glad you like that silk kimono refence. As the story summary says, they will play an important role in this story.