Summary: It's hard to give up a friend, especially the first you ever had, and even harder to forget. She left the Sekiho and him, hoping to escape a dark secret and even darker past. Ten years after the disbandment, they find each other. Can she leave him and run again? SanoxOC

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin

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Prologue: Part 1

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Sanosuke yawned widely and audibly as he circled the camp for the fifth time, slowing his pace as he dragged his feet.

Guard duty was usually given to the junior soldiers, seeing as no one usually attacked or attempted to infiltrate the Sekihoutai's base. No one. Ever.

That made this particular chore very, very, boring.

Well, he wouldn't be so bored and miserable right now if he didn't keep thinking about what that baka Katsu was doing.

Sanosuke looked almost longingly at the gate as he passed it, wishing he were outside it with the Captain in town. He'd probably be with him if he hadn't gotten stuck doing this first.

Of course, Katsu had managed to brown nose his way out of whatever he did all day in the arsenals to go with Captain Sagara to town. Sanosuke hadn't missed the haughty grin on Katsu's face as he walked out of the camp behind the Captain.

Sano grit his teeth angrily as his mind raced through probable revenge schemes.

He began to chuckle darkly as a plot began to formulate in the spiky haired head of his.

A few leafs fell onto said spiky brown hair and brought Sano back to reality from the happy land of revenge. He plucked them off his head and studied them, then looked up, to see that the branch of a tall tree that was on the other side of the wall was swaying slightly.

Strange, he hadn't felt any gust of wind.

He shrugged, figuring that he probably wouldn't feel any wind through the thick wooden wall.

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Her feet were silent as she trotted briskly down the rows of the poorly shingled buildings. She grinned to herself, not believing how easy it was to get into this camp, even in the broad daylight. She pictured an endlessly large storage room, filled with every type of vegetable and spice imaginable and hundreds of drums of rice, her mouth watering slightly.

She jumped the five feet that were between the two buildings easily, landing with a soft thump on the roof of the storage room. She placed her ear to the roof and closed her eyes, listening intently.

She could hear the quiet sound of someone rummaging through the vegetables, their feet scraping against the packed dirt floor. They placed what sounded like a few objects into a basket. She listened as they picked the baskets up, and walked out the door, closing it with a sharp snap as they hurried back to wherever they had come from.

She looked up just in time to see a young woman disappear into a nearby building, which she presumed was the kitchen. She grinned broadly to herself, then creeped towards the side. After glancing around to check if anybody was around, she gripped the edge with both her hands and swung down, landing on the ground as quietly as before. She slid the door open and slipped in quickly, closing it behind her.

She sighed happily as she looked at the large shelves that were stocked with so much delicious, just waiting to be eaten, food. The smell of dried fish stock, rice, and vegetables mingled in the air as she began searching for something she could take that would be overlooked.

She poured a small amount of rice into some cloth and wrapped it closed before slipping it into her gi, and was about to select a few small vegetables when she heard the sound of approaching feet.

Her blood froze as she realized that the girl was coming back, heading straight for the door. She didn't have time to slip out. She looked around frantically, and, to her horror, realized that there were no visible windows in this room.

She could hear the girl's breath as she stood just outside the door, she could hear her as she placed her hand on the door. She would slide the door open in just a second, and she would find her standing with stolen goods stuffed into her gi in the middle of the room in that same time.

The door slid open and the woman stepped in, looking around for a forgotten object. She watched as the woman made her way to a basket, opening it to reveal a batch of cabbages. She picked one up and studied it carefully.

The girl was definitely taking her time. She didn't know how much longer she could stay like this. Her arms and legs began to ache as she pushed them harder against the wood, willing them to hold her for a little longer. Perspiration collected on the tip of her nose, threatening to fall and disclose her position on the ceiling between the rafters.

The woman had finally made her choice, and was about to walk out when…

Guuuuu-----

A loud sound erupted from her empty stomach.

Gods, why now??

She mentally cursed at her stomach, promising that she would rip it out if it weren't connected to her.

The young woman that was standing under her froze. She slowly tilted her head up. Both their faces were masks of shock and horror as their eyes met.

She, however, didn't scream bloody murder like the woman did, making her presence known to everyone within a ten mile radius...

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"AAHHHH!! INTRUDER!!" Sanosuke heard a loud shriek erupt from the middle of the camp. His heart nearly skipped a beat as he ran towards the sound at the thought of some action finally happening.

It nearly stopped when he realized that he had let the intruder in.

Why did it have to happen today, of all days?

Katsu would never let him live it down.

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She bolted through the base, dodging what seemed like hundreds of soldiers that suddenly appeared out of the dark recesses of the camp. Where had they been all this time?

She turned up the main path towards the gate, when a swarm of gunmen suddenly appeared in front of her. She skidded to a stop and scrambled to the side of a building, running down the small alley. She could hear as the entire squad chased after her, waving their guns around like madmen.

She turned her head to glance at them as they stampeded after her, trying to work up a plan to get out of this place with at least her life.

She braced herself and jumped onto some drums that were by a building, then she grabbed onto the edge of the roof and pulled herself up. Her heart was pounding and brow was sweating as she struggled to hoist herself up onto the roof. She finally managed, then stood straight up. She was about to run when suddenly everything around her became a blurry swirling mess. She wavered, trying to figure out which way to go, but her head began to pound and a sharp pain pierced her side. Everything began to get fuzzier and darker as she slowly slipped out of consciousness. She teetered back and fell off the roof, only to be caught by the soldiers under her.

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"You watch her Sanosuke, since you let her in," the guard growled as he pushed Sanosuke into the small jail.

"What?! What about dinner?!" Sano exclaimed as he stood at the door.

"Here," the guard said as he gruffly pushed a small pack of riceballs into Sanosuke's hands. Sano would've protested, but the murderous glare the guard gave him shut him up. He closed the door and stalked away, leaving Sanosuke standing at the door.

"This is injustice! It's not like I was the ONLY guard on duty! OH SURE, BLAME THE SCAPEGOAT!!" Sano was panting slightly after finishing yelling through the door, an angry vein throbbing on his head. He knew the guard was gone and probably didn't hear a word he said, making him even angrier.

He gave an angry snort as he went to the cell where the intruder was being held. He peered in, but found it was too dark to see the person who was sitting in the shadowy corner of the cell. He glared at whoever was inside.

This was all their fault.

He slumped down by the cell and unwrapped his dinner, grimacing at the thought of everyone else eating the delicious stew that was being made that afternoon. He looked at the riceball in his hand glumly, thinking of what the Captain would think about this fiasco.

"That looks really good," a small voice said in the corner of his ear. He turned his head to see a girl sitting on her haunches right besides him, on the other side of the bars.

"Ack!" he yelped, jumping to the side slightly. He hadn't even heard her move. He looked at her, and noticed she was gazing steadily at the riceball in his hand.

He moved the ball to the side, and her cat-like green eyes followed. He moved it up, and watched as they followed once again. He moved it in circles, and she followed, her eyes rolling in their sockets.

This continued for another few minutes.

"Please don't do that, I'm getting dizzy," she said after a while, moving her gaze to him and frowning. He glowered and stuffed the riceball into his mouth, to her obvious dismay.

"It's your fault that I'm in here and I'm not giving a prisoner anything," Sano said through the rice. Her face fell and she leaned her forehead on the wooden railing.

"You're right," she said softly, an unnervingly truthful tone audible. "I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you." Sano couldn't help feeling a pang of regret for being so mean.

"Whatever," he shrugged, mentally bashing his conscience down. He remained quiet until his curiosity got the best of him. He glanced at her a few times as she remained with her head against the bars. "Why did you break into a military base?" She didn't look up at him and shrugged half heartedly. He gave an exasperated sigh, hoping she would elaborate.

"I was hungry," she said simply after a moment of silence.

"You did all this because you were hungry?" he said, his voice full of skepticism. She nodded slowly, not lifting up her head. "When was the last time you ate?
"Five days ago," she muttered. Sano nearly choked in surprise. No wonder she had broken into the storage room. He silently gawked at her as she kept her head hung gloomily. He looked at the several riceballs that were still in his lap, then at the dejected looking figure at his side.

His conscience was stronger than he thought.

"Here," he said, holding out a riceball to her. She looked up at him in surprise.

"I thought you didn't give food to the prisoners," she said, arching an eyebrow.

"I lied," Sanosuke said, grinning apprehensively at her. She returned a small smile, then took the riceball gingerly.

In a few seconds it was gone.

"Gods, you eat faster than me and Katsu combined," Sano remarked as he held out another riceball, which she took gratefully. Soon that was also completely gone.

"I told you, I'm hungry," she smiled as she licked off a few grains of rice from her fingers. She looked up at him gratefully. "Thank you." Sano shrugged, trying not to look too pleased with himself.

"No problem," he grinned widely at her through the bars. "I'm Sanosuke, by the way, junior soldier of the Sekiho army." She smiled felinishly at his proud grin.

"I'm Kyouri," she replied happily as she held her hand out for another riceball hopefully. "Very hungry prisoner of the Sekiho army."

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Note: The prologue's gonna be a few chapters long, so, er, bear with me.

I must say I'm proud of myself for making this chapter less than a billion words long! Personally, this is my least favorite chapter and I think the next one's better (wow, isn't this story off to a great start?). Still, I hope it was at least passable! PLEASE leave a review! I need the feed back!!

To the (two) people that might care, I haven't abandoned my other fic. I'm just having a brutal writers block on that story.

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Please, PLEASE review!!

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