Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything in this fic except the plot…all characters are property of their brilliant creator.
Chapter Three: Fearless
Though Yahiko didn't know it, it was a few weeks later when he encountered the girl at the bridge again.
In that short amount of time, not much had happened that was out of the ordinary. He had paid the Yakuza the usual amount of money they demanded, got into a few fights with the many gangs of roving children around the streets, and managed not to get caught thieving by anyone else.
The only thing of importance that had happened, however, that didn't seem like such a big deal to anyone else but himself, had been the slowly changing weather. The last, lingering warmness of summer vanished from Tokyo, replaced by a chill to the air in the day and night.
Yahiko had a strong feeling that this coolness wouldn't improve over the next fall months.
It was a stormy, dark, rainy night when Yahiko ran into the girl who had worn the yellow kimono once more.
He had been near the riverbank. Then again, where else would he be? It was the only place he felt at home, because the Yakuza gang didn't care (or want) Yahiko the pickpocket taking up space in a room of theirs and basically, sleeping in the streets was not safe, considering there were so many cutthroats and murderers lurking in the shadows…Besides, he liked sleeping near the river, as the noise it made lulled him to a peaceful sleep.
But during the winter and rainy months, Yahiko would usually have to find actual lodging. Often, his temporary shelter was an abandoned house near the edge of town, but hostile, dangerous vagrants who didn't want to share their "home" with some dirty, scruffy street kid often occupied this house, so he was usually out of luck.
Tonight was one of such nights, a truly miserable, rainy night, and he had been kicked out (yet again). At the moment, he was searching his usual sleeping spot along the river, in some tall weeds, hoping to find his old blanket, which he would sometimes use to keep the rain off him. The darkness of the night was heavy all around him, and low thunder rumbled menacingly from a distance. He heard a few people crossing the bridge behind him, but he wasn't really aware of them, preoccupied at the moment.
A few raindrops fell from the sky, making him glance up for a split second. He began to search faster, but not fast enough. The rain suddenly burst forth from the clouds, attacking the dry earth, and he groaned aloud with frustration. In a few seconds, he was immediately soaked.
"GAH! Forget it!" Yahiko was so frustrated, he yelled aloud without realizing it, ending the few words with some low, incoherent curses as he began to hurry away to find some kind of available shelter.
But before he could, there was a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder that both deafened and blinded him for a second, and the next thing he knew, he heard a scream followed by a splash behind him, where the bridge was.
"Kenshin! Help! I can't swim!" a girl screamed from the violently thrashing river, her voice high-pitched and full of terror, "Kenshin!"
"Kaoru-dono!"
Yahiko felt his heart skip a beat. The river was wild tonight, being fed and aided by the torrent of rain. Hardly anything was visible, and if you couldn't swim or see in such a strong current, then you were in serious danger…
She's gonna drown, Yahiko realized, letting his eyes search the river to see where the woman was. Then he saw her, for a split second, thrashing desperately through the water as the river current dragged her roughly away.
Without thinking about it, Yahiko ran into the river himself, unaware that someone else had done the same. He hadn't known what else to do, but he knew that he couldn't just let someone drown while he sat back and did nothing.
The frigidness of the water knocked the breath out of him, as soon as he splashed in, taking his breath away, freezing his insides. He tried not to notice at first, distracted by the swirling water that blinded him, and the storming rain that drummed itself against his skull. His hair was plastered to his forehead, he was being slung around as easily as a doll…
All of a sudden, he felt extremely foolish. He could barely keep himself from being completely overwhelmed by the rapids, how in the hell could he possibly rescue anyone else when he himself needed to be rescued?
He would just have to try, he told himself, and chocked on the water that had entered his mouth and nose.
Then he saw her, the drowning girl, just a few feet away from where he was. She was no longer trying to keep afloat… in fact, she appeared to be unconscious, she wasn't moving. Her head was visible for a moment or so, and then it disappeared beneath the river.
His stomach lurched. Determinedly, he fought his way through where she last vanished, despite the fact that he could barely swim through the current.
Although she was gone when he got there, it didn't occur to him to stop searching. He took a deep breath, submerging himself completely into the murky, muddy water, hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of her, but he could see nothing—it was as though he had become blind. He couldn't see a thing at all.
Desperately, he ran his fingers through the shadowy liquid, into the inky blackness of the mud that seemed so much like his nightmares….
And caught someone's wrist.
He smiled, his feelings were a mixture of triumph and relief…now he just needed to get them both to the surface. His lungs were mildly burning for oxygen, and he was certain that (if that girl was still alive) she needed air as much as he did. So, taking a firm grip of her arm, he yanked and pulled, trying to get her out of the water, but it did no good. She didn't budge. Air escaped his stubborn lips…and he began to panic as his lungs burned more intensely.
With some urgency, Yahiko managed to, somehow, summon all the strength he had and managed to pull the woman with enough force to get them above the surface of the water once more. He gasped, coughing, as both air and water droplets rushed inside his mouth. The girl he had pulled out was still out cold…or dead. He hoped she wasn't…now they just needed to get to land… but he felt so tired….
"Looks like you need some help!" a man shouted from behind them. Yahiko was surprised that there was someone else in the river besides them; it was a man with long, soaked, dark hair. With his help, Yahiko and he managed to sling the woman across the man's back, and swam to shore.
"Are you alright?" the man asked, when they were safely resting on the grass, gasping and trying to catch their breaths.
Yahiko nodded. "Yeah, I am—but what about her?" he looked over at the woman he had saved "She's not dead…is she?"
The man looked over at her. "No, I think Kaoru-dono will be fine, de gozaru yo. She's still breathing," he quickly checked her pulse, "She's just unconscious, luckily, instead of drowned. But that's because of you, child. Thank you for saving her."
Yahiko flushed at the man's praise. "But I didn't save her!" he protested, "You did! If you hadn't come when you did, I would've been a goner too!"
The man shook his head, smiling and looking faintly amused. "You found her before I did, before she could drown," he pointed out.
There was a pause as Yahiko tried to argue again, but the man spoke, interrupting his thoughts.
"I was wondering," he said, looking at Yahiko apologetically, "If it's not too much trouble, if you could help me? You see, Kaoru-dono and I had been shopping and when she fell, we left some of the packages behind on the bridge. It will be hard for Sessha to carry both Kaoru-dono and the packages, so I was wondering if you could help me carry them home…"
Realizing he had nothing better to do, Yahiko agreed and followed him.
"Here we are." The man stopped a few minutes later in front of a dojo. "Once again, I'd like to thank you, child, for saving Kaoru-dono and helping Sessha."
Yahiko shrugged. "Sure," he said carelessly, as he glanced curiously around.
The man opened the thick wooden doors that led to the dojo's entrance. "Would you like to come in?" he asked, "And stay until the rain stops? You're soaked…you're lucky you haven't gotten sick."
"Yeah, okay."
They walked insider, the man still carrying the unconscious lady in his arms and Yahiko trailing behind and lugging the heavy bags.
"I'll be right back to help you with those…" the man said over his shoulder as he walked on ahead, " I just need to take care of Kaoru-dono. I'll be right out!" He quickly entered a room, closing the shoji door behind him.
Yahiko set the parcels down on the floor, grumbling under his breath about how much they weighted. He shivered, chilled to the bone. The chill was, no doubt, caused by a combination of both cold and nerves. He wondered whether or not he ought to leave before the man came back and asked him any uncomfortable questions about him being outside in the rain in the middle of the night, when he should have been home, asleep by now, but he hesitated. Just the thought of going back outside in the freezing drizzle, trying to find shelter, was a daunting idea.
But before he could make up his mind, the man appeared again, carrying a small lantern that dimly lit up the hall they stood in. This time, Yahiko got a better look at him.
He was a short man, wearing a pink gi and white hakama pants. He had red hair that was still slightly damp, pulled back into a low ponytail. His eyes were, strangely enough, a light colored violet. He looked familiar…wait a second. The guy… he was the guy at the bridge from a few weeks ago!
"Here, let me get some of these," the man picked up a fair share of the bags in one hand, leaving Yahiko with a lot less. "Come along, child." He began to lead Yahiko a little farther down the hall.
"I'm not a child," Yahiko informed him, recovering from his surprise and picking up the rest of the bags, trotting after him.
"Oh, no?" the man gave him a sidelong glance.
"No," Yahiko assured him. "My name is Myojin Yahiko, and I'm descended from a long line of Tokyo samurai!"
"Ah," the man nodded, understanding. "Sorry, I didn't mean to belittle you in any way…"
Yahiko shrugged, accepting the apology, and they stopped at the end of the hall in front of a shoji door. The man put down the lantern, opened the door with a free hand, and they both walked inside.
"We'll just leave these in the spare bedroom for now. I'll be right back with some dry clothes for you, Yahiko-kun."
"No, its alright…I don't need anything," Yahiko protested.
"You'll catch a cold wearing wet clothes," the man stated simply, "I'll be right back." He left.
Yahiko glanced around the dimly lit room, not quite sure what to do. He had the urge to leave, but why leave when he'd be getting some dry place to sleep? Not to mention a dry set of clothes…
The man returned shortly, with an armful
"Here you go, Yahiko-kun," he placed the clothes in Yahiko's arms, "I wasn't sure what would fit you, so I got everything that looked likely. I'll wait outside until you are done." He turned to leave.
"Thanks—uh—I didn't catch your name--?" Yahiko's voice trailed off.
"I am Himura Kenshin. And you are very welcome," said Kenshin, going outside.
A/N: Thank you Lily of the Shadow, Aeris, smilingcheerios, and LishaChan for your reviews! I'm so sorry it took so long—I'll try to update faster next time! I was originally going to follow the storyline from the Anime, sort of, but then I changed my mind and wrote something completely different. I dunno…I hope you guys enjoyed it!