Chapter 7: A Dojo Master(ed)
"Kaoru-dono. Daijobu?"
A steady rap from the other side of the bathroom wall woke Michiru up from her nap. She sighed quietly and suddenly felt the waters surrounding her. Standing up too quickly, she bumped her head in the bath and rubbed the sore spot to soothe her throbbing head. She looked down at the waters again and then caught her reflection in the water. Instead of aquamarine hair, her reflection had long black hair that reached down to the small of her back.
A more insistent call was now at the other side of the door. "Kaoru-dono! Daijobu?" the voice asked once again, this time with more urgency.
Absently, she answered. "Hai, hai." She heard herself speak but it wasn't her own voice. It was someone else's voice. It was melodic but had a sharp irritated edge to it. She got out of the water and wrapped a towel around herself. She noticed the little slippers just outside the bath door and slipped her feet in it. Slowly, she got dressed and left her wet hair down to dry.
As she emerged from the bathhouse, Kenshin looked up from his sweeping to watch her. She shook her head to get rid of the excess water in her hair. Kenshin stood rooted on the spot as he had never seen her do that before and was bewitched again by the beauty of the dojo master. Quietly, he thought to himself that Kaoru looked more beautiful every time he looked at her.
Michiru was immediately aware the difference in her surroundings. Where am I? Did I hit my head harder than I thought? She saw a red headed swordsman holding a broom, standing nearby. Hesitating for a moment, she moved towards him as if it was the most natural thing to do. They both stopped about a few feet from each other and Michiru took a deep breath.
Thankfully, she was saved from speaking when a young boy of about 11, came out from the main house.
"Are you just going to stand there and stare at Kenshin all day? We have to go to Akabeko, remember? Today is Tsubame's birthday!" The spiky-haired boy screamed at the pair. "I swear, you guys should just get it over with." He grumbled some more as he went back inside the house, mumbling to himself about clueless adults.
"I guess that was my cue to get dressed," Michiru murmured as she moved away slowly. Kenshin gave her one of his smiles and replied. "He's just probably nervous. He has been working hard and wants this to be a special day for her." Michiru nodded as she was trying to figure out her situation. Slowly, she turned to make her way towards the house.
Kenshin felt that she was hiding something from him but he didn't exactly know what. Something was different. His hand had reached out to grab her arm when Yahiko appeared from the doorway again.
"I'm going ahead," Yahiko yelled as he put on his zori. "You guys can follow when you're done staring at each other." And he raced out of the yard and was out into the street.
Faint grumblings of "baka" and the ever present "busu" was heard from the boy but Yahiko was gone before either of them had a chance to react. Kenshin was more worried about Kaoru as she didn't scream at Yahiko like she usually does. "I'm going to get dressed, then."
Just like that, Michiru had disappeared into the house and left a worried Kenshin behind her.
7.2 Miburo's Ruined Cigarette
"Bleagh!"
The tall woman sputtered as she straightened up in her chair. "What the hell ... " she never managed to finish her thought as she looked down. She was wearing a dark blue uniform and was sitting behind a desk. There was a man sitting across from her that seemed like he was giving information.
"What are your orders, Fujita-san?" the man asked as he leaned in closer. "Fujita-san?"
Haruka's eyes snapped up towards the man but she didn't recognize him either. The man appeared to be waiting for a reply from her, so she waved him away. "Come back later," she said roughly even though the voice did not belong to her at all. It was a man's voice, deep and gravely, as if tempered by the experience of a soldier and a killer. She spun around in her chair, away from the scrutinizing eyes of the other. It was all Haruka could do to avoid a too early confrontation.
She sensed the other man get up to leave the room as she let out a sigh of relief. On her left hand, she noticed a cigarette dangling from it. When did she start smoking? Haruka's mind raced but could find no reasonable explanation for what is happening. Is it hallucination? Is it a dream? She let the heat of the cigarette burn her finger before dropping it on the floor, extinguished. Now she realized that she was in someone else's body.
An urgent knock came to the door and it opened wide. "Fujita-san! We need your help immediately!" Haruka felt herself rise from the seat and pull her uniform into place. When did she pick up that habit? Without missing a beat, she asked in a cold tone what kind of mess did they get themselves into?
"We caught a suspect in the bombing case six months ago," one of the officers replied. "We need your expert help in the interrogation!" Haruka turned around and headed for the open door. As she turned to close the door, she caught her breath as she noticed her reflection. She was a tall man, dressed in a dark blue uniform with short black hair and a mean glare on her face. There was a pack of cigarettes in his coat pocket and a Japanese katana hung from the waist. Inside, she shuddered at her reflection before following the frantic activity outside of the office.
Author's Notes: And the alternative universe continues. It has been a while but I just found this chapter recently while resurrecting an old hard drive. Who knows what else I unearth from this old girl? I do not own Sailor Moon nor do I own Rurouni Kenshin for that matter. I recently acquired the art books for Sailor Moon AND Rurouni Kenshin and a tiny surviving part of my sanity. No money is being made out of this whole thing. But R&R are always welcomed.