Disclaimer: I do not own Ruruoni Kenshin…I just worship it!
Chapter 3: Moonlight Shadow
A figure walked into a clearing under the silver moon. The person removed the cloak they were wearing to reveal a girl no more then sixteen years old. She had knee length red hair that cascaded over her shoulders.
Wisps of hair framed her pale face, just above her stormy sea blue eyes. She wore a short mid thigh black skirt that had a long train in the back down to her ankles. She had on a black Chinese kimono top that was attached to the skirt, adorned in gold embroidery. Leather Sai holsters was on each of her thighs. She clutched her cloak to her chest and walked a little bit more out of the clearing. She stopped on a hill overlooking Tokyo.
"Home" she said. The girl laughed.
"Well, not yet anyway. I don't even exist yet in this world; I'd better get to work. But first..." She turned around abruptly, pulling out her Sai's and dodged at a tree to her left.
"Show yourself!" She yelled. A figure jumped out from behind the tree, long black bangs dangling in his face. The man ran at her and thrust his sword towards her stomach. She did a split and blocked the attack with her Sai's. The man pulled his sword back into his sheath.
"Hajime Saitoh." She breathed.
"Why were you following me?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"I've heard rumors in Kyoto of a swordsman, or woman," He added, eyeing her up and down.
"That has been practically putting the police out of commission because the person was attending to all of the criminals. Since I am apart of the police I decided to see how good your skills were and investigate this matter further.
She eyed Saitoh up and down and finally put her Sai's back into their holsters. Saitoh smirked and pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
"So, I've also heard that they've given you a nickname as "Moonlight Shadow" But I want to know what your real name is." She looked at him once more and finished putting her sai's into their holsters.
"Arianna..." Saitoh took a drag of his cigarette and closed his eyes briefly before staring at the girl intensely .
"No last name?"
"Arianna…Himura. If you must know." Saitoh choked on the smoke from his cigarette. Arianna grinned wolfishly.
"You know, those things'll kill ya." He nodded solemnly.
"Tokio, my wife, says the same thing." Saitoh looked at Arianna again.
"Funny you have the same last name as someone I know. He looked at her again.
"You know staring IS rude." She said icily. Saitoh chuckled. Arianna crossed her arms and turned away from Saitoh. He shook his head and flicked his cigarette to the floor, smothering the still burning tip.
"I was wondering if you would like to accompany me with something. There's a gang problem in Tokyo that needs to be resolved, would you mind helping me?" Arianna eyes Saitoh from the side.
"Sure, why not."
"Good, why don't we head into Tokyo. I'm expected to stay at someone's, I'm sure they wont mind one more." Arianna raised an eyebrow at him
"These people are just about to let some stranger into their home without questioning it? They are just going to trust you one hundred percent in this day and age?" Saitoh smiled.
"The woman who owns the dojo is like that. She took my friend in without even knowing about his past." Arianna stared at the back of Saitoh's head as he walked ahead of her. They both walked towards Tokyo, the moons light shining on the Mibu Wolf and the Moonlight Shadow.
Tokyo- Kamiya Dojo
Kaoru, Kenshin, Megumi, Sanoske, Yahiko, Aoshi, and Misao sat on the porch in the backyard expecting Hajime Saitoh to come through the gates any minute. They heard a creak and turned around to see Saitoh and someone in a cloak walk through the gate.
"Saitoh." Kenshin greeted with his rurouni smile.
"Battousi." He answered monotonously. Kenshin rubbed his head and sighed.
"I really wish you wouldn't call me that." Saitoh just shrugged.
"Who's your friend Saitoh-san?" Kaoru asked. Saitoh looked back at Arianna. She Stood next to Saitoh and slowly pulled the cloak off of her head and body. Arianna's long red hair fell around her shoulders.
"Konnichiwa minna-san, my name is Arianna."
"Nice to meet Arianna-dono." Said Kenshin.
"Oi!" Sano yelled, "She's got red hair like Kenshin's! You guys are the only ones I know with red hair!" He exclaimed. Everyone laughed.
"Why don't you tell them your last name Arianna?" Arianna just glanced at Saitoh seeming as to ask what the big deal was about her last name.
"Oh, it's Himura." She said dismissively. Misao choked on her tea and spit it out on Yahiko.
"Hey! That's Kenshin's last name, How funny is that?" Kenshin smiled and nodded.
"So Arianna-dono where are you from?" Arianna looked at Kenshin.
"I'm from Kyoto." She replied.
"How old are you?" chirped in Misao.
"Sixteen."
"Oh, your only two years younger then me and Misao, were 18." Replied Kaoru.
"What style of fighting?" asked a grinning Yahiko as he crossed his arms across his chest. Arianna raised an eyebrow. Yahiko laughed before pointing at her Sai's tied to her thighs.
"You don't even look like you can lift a sword, so I was wondering what a girl like you is doing with something as dangerous as those. Sai's take a lot of discipline and hard work to master" He said.
"Oh Arianna-dono this is Myojin Yahiko, Makimachi Misao, Shinomori Aoshi, Sagara Sanoske, Takani Megumi, and Kamiya Kaoru. Arianna nodded to each one and finally turned back to Yahiko.
"Well Yahiko-chan, why don't you spar with me and you can decide for yourself." Yahiko rolled up his sleeves and ran over to the dojo's shelf and grabbed a bokken. Yahiko walked out into the middle of the yard and held the bokken at his side. Arianna pulled out two chopsticks from her back pocket and slid them through her hair putting them into two sloppy masses of hair, with strands dangling on the sides of her face.
"Hey Yahiko, you sure you wanna do this?" Yelled Misao. He nodded and yelled back.
"She's got a really weak ki, she'll be cake."
"Yahiko's pretty cocky if ya ask me." Sano said lazily. Kaoru sighed and nodded.
"My training him has given him strength, but his cocky attitude will still overwhelm him." Arianna walked out to the field and stood in front of Yahiko. Kaoru stood up and sliced her hand through the air.
"Begin Match!" Yahiko ran at Arianna and swung his bokken down. She side stepped and Yahiko lost his balance and fell. Arianna pulled out her Sai's and back-flipped a foot away from Yahiko. He stood up and ran at her again. Arianna crossed the blades to block the bokken. Yahiko smirked and forced the wooden sword against her. Arianna brought her Sai's back and kicked her leg up to the bokken and kicked it down, breaking the sword in half.
"Shit!" he yelled and dodged to the side as Arianna thrust her Sai at Yahiko's chest. Yahiko ran to Kenshin and took his Sakabatou.
"Hey, Yahiko!" Kenshin yelled. He ran at Arianna and knocked the Sai's from her grasp. Yahiko swung the sword down and Arianna slid between his legs, lifted herself on her hands, and grabbed Yahiko by the neck with her legs, flipping him forward onto his back. She took his sword and straddled his waist and raised the blade an inch from his neck.
"I think I won." Arianna stated plainly. She stood up and offered her hand to Yahiko.
"Shit she's really good, as good as Kenshin, and Ice block!" Sano exclaimed. Aoshi glared at Sano who laughed nervously. Arianna patted Yahiko on the back comfortingly.
"Good match. You were very swift in your moves but you weren't concentrating on me and my attacks, you were spending all your time thinking of the moves you would need to use to not only look very enticing in battle, but also the grace that would follow through with it. One you have mastered Kamiya Kasshin Ryu all of the moves will flow through your mind like water and you wont even need to think about your next move, it will just come naturally. " She said with a smile. Yahiko nodded and sat down next to Kaoru on the porch.
"Amazing, how long have you trained Arianna?" Kaoru asked.
"I've been studying for ten years." She said.
"Your really good, that you are Arianna-dono." Kenshin said with a smile. Arianna smiled back.
A/n: Stay tuned!
