I don't own PMK or any of its characters. I only own Din, Setsuna, and Seimura.

Thank you for the reviews! Wow, you know this thing has been up for a year now? I missed the one year anniversary because I'm sick, and I've been sick for a few days now. This month has been hard on my whole family.

Moving away from all of that, I want to thank all of you for sticking with me this far with this story. I had no idea that this story would go on this long and become this large in chapter numbers. I think when this is done and I put the epilogue up, I'll leave something telling what was going to happen. Just a few short things I can always remember this thing by. I'm rambling now aren't I? Anyways, this is a flashback chapter, and the one after this will be one as well.

Enjoy!

The sun released rays upon Japan broke records that the elderly man across the street had been keeping. Heat waves rose off of the streets and back into the sky, only to be caught in a dry wind. The heat would have been something to complain about, but the dry wind that came with it made the heat something more then just something to complain about. The heat had become a hassle to the people, but there was nothing they could do about it.

A twenty-four year old Din was running down the streets with her kimono pulled up around her knees. Her breathing came quick and hard as she stretched her legs out in front of her as fast as she could. She avoided the people walking down the market the best she could until she arrived in front of a large, brown building with flags flapping in the front.

This place had been where she was to meet a man who promised to help her find her sister. He asked her to run a few errands for him first, nothing much more then gathering food for his men and cooking it for them. After she had earned his trust, he had asked her to come to his place where they would finally meet in person. This was the day Din had been asking for over and over again, someone else would finally be helping her look for Setsuna. Finally.

Her black hair remained tied back into a high ponytail, only now her ponytail barely touched the back of her neck. The scar that would normally cross her face had yet to be cut. She was wearing a purple kimono that she had pulled up to her knees and a red slash around her midsection.

"Here?" she asked out loud through panting.

She dug her heels into the ground and came to a stop in front of the odd building. This would be the place where she would find information about her missing sister. She stepped into the door with care, and walked into a large open room.

"Hello?" she asked out loud. "I'm here to meet Ichimura-san?"

"Ichimura-san?" a male voice asked.

"Yes!" Din yelled back.

"Come into the backroom!" the male voice ordered.

Din moved her hand down to her hip and grabbed a sai there. She took slow steps as she walked through another door with caution. She pushed back the curtains that led into the room, and saw a large group of men standing there, talking and laughing with one another.

"Hinto-san!" a man called. "Come over here and meet the man who will help you!"

Din did as told and walked into the group of men. There stood a man, taller then the rest with dark red hair that had been tied back into a low ponytail. He wore a pair of pants and white dress shirt that Din had never seen before on a Japanese man and a smile across his face.

"Hello!" he said in English.

Din blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Hinto-san correct?" he asked in Japanese.

"Yes." She nodded.

"I'm Ichimura Ryuunosuke, and I'm going to help you find your sister," he said with a bow.

Her eyes softened. "Thank you so much Ichimura-sama!" she said with a bow.

Din's heart began to pound away in her chest just from those simple words. Hearing someone else say them meant so much to her. To have someone that had ties to other important people help her in her search made a goofy smile cross her face that hadn't been there in years.

"Ichimura-sama?" he blinked. He stepped over towards her as she rose up and ruffed her hair until strands of it traveled in every direction. "Please, call me Ichimura-kun! You make me sound like an old man!"

Din blinked. This man wasn't the man she had been expecting to be here. This wasn't the encounter she had been expecting…it was so much more.

Two days had passed since Din had moved into the house where Ryuunosuke held his meetings. She cooked for the household of friendly men who all worked underneath Ryuunosuke, doing jobs he needed to have get done. It was better then the house she lived in with her adoptive parents, and she rarely had to go back to her new parents now that she had a stable job. Everything had been going well.

"Hinto-san! Hinto-san!" a man yelled as he ran into the house. "Hinto-san, where are you?"

Din stepped out of the kitchen. "What is it?" she asked.

"I've got a notice!" the man said as he ran over to her. He handed her the small piece of paper, and she began to read over it.

"Where did you get this?" Din asked while she read.

"I was doing research on people when I came across this, Hinto-san, you should wait before you do anything rash. Wait for Ryuunosuke-sama to come back!" the man said.

Din forced herself to reread the letter. Written on the paper were addresses of places where the Choushuu were going to be, and who was addressed to come to the meetings. Setsuna's name was written on one of the address that began a few hours ago. Din looked up from the paper, and back at the man.

"I have to go," Din said.

The man shook his head. "You can't, you could die if you go in unprepared."

Din shook her head. "I have no choice! I can't wait; Ichimura-kun won't be back until tomorrow night! I have to go now!!"

Without waiting, Din stuffed the piece of paper down into her kimono and ran out of the house. The man reached out to grab Din but it was too late, Din was long gone. The man ran up the stairs of the house and into a small room.

"Men, we must get Ryuunosuke-sama! Hinto-san has taken off!" the man alerted. "Hurry up!"

Din ran down the streets as fast as her legs could carry her. She looked down at the piece of paper the other man had given her and looked around to the addresses around her to see where she was. After running down a mile she found the house listed on the paper. She grabbed the sais she had brought with her, and approached the front door.

"Where's Hinto-san?" a male voice asked.

Hinto-san? Din thought as she leaned against the door. Setsuna?

"You mean Setsuna-san?" a young male voice said.

There's a child in there. Din's eyes widened.

"Setsuna-san should be coming, I don't know why she's not here yet," a new, rough male voice answered.

An idea hit Din. If she went in there acting as her younger sister, perhaps she could gain information about Setsuna. Not only that, but she would be getting information for Ryuunosuke. With her plan in mind, Din reached back to her ponytail and let her hair fall but then tied it into a low ponytail. She moved down to her tied up kimono and let it fall down to her feet. This was the way Din remembered Setsuna, and she hoped that it was still the way she looked.

Din took in a large breath of air and courage, and walked into the small building. Immediately Din walked into a large living room where three men stood, one with dark skin and white hair, one short and cubby, and one that made Din stop in her tracks. The man that had caught her eye looked like Hijikata when she first laid eyes on him, but the more she looked at him, the more she realized that his body structure was too thin to be Hijikata.

"Setsuna?" the man who looked like Hijikata said as he cocked an eyebrow.

Din moved hair behind her right ear. "I'm sorry I'm so late…I ran into some trouble on the way over here."

"Ryuunosuke?" the cubby man said with a laugh. "He's been causing a lot of trouble around here hasn't he? Too bad he doesn't know that we're gonna ambush him and his little group."

"Oh." Din blinked.

A sudden feeling of disgust came to the pit of her stomach. Her hands moved over her stomach as the feeling became stronger but didn't want to give anything was wrong so she laughed.

"Setsuna-san," the small boy began, "are you alright? You've been acting strange for the past few days."

"Fine," Din answered.

The man who looked like Hijikata stepped over towards Din. "I want to see you upstairs. Alone."

Din nodded, and the two walked up a small flight of stairs. Din looked down right before she entered an empty room and saw the white haired boy looking back up at her with an innocent smile on his face. She returned the smile, and then walked into the room with the strange man. Once they were both inside the room, the strange man shut the door behind himself.

"Setsuna?" he asked. "You say that you ran into some trouble on the way over here?"

"Yes." Din nodded once more. "Why?"

The man turned around and grabbed Din by her neck. Din's hands came up to her neck and began tearing away at the strange man's hands in an attempt to remove them.

"Setsuna's eyes are the opposite color," the man hissed. "Who the hell are you?"

Breathing had become hard. Din moved her head upwards, trying to get more air but she just couldn't find any way to get air down into her lungs. The pressure the man was placed on her neck send waves of pain down Din's neck and through out the rest of her body. Adrenaline began to pump, and the man could feel Din's heartbeat increase.

"Fine," the man spoke.

The man drew his sword as Din pulled backwards in defense. The man's sword grazed over Din's face, from underneath her right eye, across her nose, and stopped underneath her left eye. She screamed and fell to the ground where she kicked out her legs until she reached the other side of the room.

"Who the hell are you?" the man asked. He walked over to Din with his sword drawn and dangling near his side. "You must be a spy."

"Hurry up and get inside!" a male voice yelled from outside.

The man walked over to the window in the room and looked down towards the street. The men who had been with Din were crowding around the house with Ryuunosuke leading them.

"Suzu," the man whispered.

Without another word the man left the room with a sprint. Din relaxed against the floor and began catching her breath when she began to lose control of her panting. Her breathing overcame her, and she fainted as blood leaked down from the wound on her face.

"Seven spring herbs, shepherds purse. Ere do the western birds," a male voice sung in English. "To the lands of the east. Come across the sea to roost."

Din's eyes fluttered open, but closed when the light shot into her eyes. She buried her face into a soft, warm wall. A light smell came from the wall she leaned her head against, and when she felt the wall move, she opened her eyes once more to find that it was someone's back. She moved around and felt that her legs were wrapped around the person's waist, and the person was holding her feet while her arms wrapped around the person's neck.

"Where…am I?" she asked.

"So you're awake Din-chan!" a male voice answered.

Din moved her head up and saw the side of Ryuunosuke face as he tried to look back at her.

"Ichimura-kun!" Din said in surprise. "What are you doing back here?"

He moved his arms backwards and boosted Din further up his back. "I heard you were in trouble. I came back to make sure that you were alright."

All of the memories of what had happened came back to Din at once. Her hands moved up to her face where she had been cut by the strange man's sword to feel bandages covering it. The bandages wrapped around her face and to the back of her head.

"My face," she whispered.

"The cut across your face is bad," Ryuunosuke said. "It took a while for our doctor to close your nose so you could breathe."

Din blinked. The wound on her face didn't hurt at all. She moved her fingers up from Ryuunosuke's back and brought them to her face. She touched the bandages on her face, and winced. Now it was starting to hurt.

"You ran off without waiting," Ryuunosuke said.

"Oh." Din lowered her head against his back. "I'm sorry…Ichimura-kun."

The sun began to set in the back and caught Din's eye once more. That was when she noticed that she and Ryuunosuke were walking along the riverbank just a few miles away from the house.

"Why are we out here?" Din asked.

"I thought that the wind would wake you up," Ryuunosuke answered. "Besides, I wanted a small walk."

"Oh."

"Din-chan…what you did was something that I cannot tolerate with my workers."

"I'm sorry," Din said as she gripped the back of his green kimono. "I should have waited for you."

Ryuunosuke sighed. "Din-chan…if you ever do something like that again I'm going to have to let you go."

Din's eyes widened as the grip increased on his kimono. "I'm so sorry Ryuunosuke-sama."

He laughed, surprising Din. "You don't have to change the way you talk to me! Let this just be a reminder of who you're under."

"Yes Ryuunosuke-sama." Din nodded against his back.

Three weeks later, Din's wound had healed into a bright scar that had yet to mix in with the coloring of her skin. She and Ryuunosuke had been getting along well, but today he asked her to come out with him to the riverbank. Din was nervous, she had been on her best behavior but she had heard rumors within the group of men that a new member would be joining them soon. Was the man going to take her place? Before Din could give anymore thought to it, it was time for Din to meet Ryuunosuke down at the riverbank.

It'll be alright. Din told herself. I'm not leaving, I'll be fine.

She walked down the streets until she arrived at the riverbank. There she saw Ryuunosuke sitting near a small bridge. Din walked down the grassy hill until she stood beside Ryuunosuke.

"Ryuunosuke-sama," Din said in a gentle tone.

"Sit down Din-chan!" He patted the spot beside him. "I've been waiting for you!"

Din did as told. She folded her legs up to her chest and crossed her arms over her ankles to make sure that they would stay. Ryuunosuke became quiet while the wind blew over the two, and the sound of the waves crashing on the pier beside them became their conversation. Minutes flew by without a word until Ryuunosuke leaned back on his hands.

"How are you Din-chan?" he asked.

"Fine," she answered. "I'm nervous."

He blinked. "Why?"

"I…uh." Din looked away from Ryuunosuke and back out to the river. "About whether you're going to get rid of me or not for what I did earlier."

Ryuunosuke began to laugh out loud. Din looked over at him with her right eyebrow raised and a blush across her face. He looked back over to her while his laugh died and smiled.

"I'm not going to get rid of you!" he said. "What ever gave you that idea?"

Her blush deepened, this time from embarrassment. "Oh…then who is the new guy who's coming?"

Ryuunosuke returned his attention to the river. "A bodyguard for you."

"Bodyguard!?" Din twitched.

He nodded. "I've also found someone who's willing to train you as my bodyguard while I'm here in this town."

"You want me as a bodyguard?" Din raised her right eyebrow. "Why?"

Ryuunosuke moved his right hand over to Din's shoulder and patted her shoulder. "Din-chan, I want to have you with my men, and when you're with men like the people I know, you have to know how to fight. I'm telling the others that you're my bodyguard, but I just want you to train, do missions for me, and cook. I will help you look for your sister, but you've got to help me."

Din nodded. "I promise I will. But…"

He looked back towards her. "But?"

Din sighed. "I fear that I won't be able to live up to your expectations."

Silence came back to the two, and the river created another conversation. Ryuunosuke stood, and stretched both of his arms up to the sky. Din watched, but looked back to the river after Ryuunosuke dropped his arms down to his sides.

"Just do your best Din-chan," he said. "That's all I can ask for. You know one day, I want to cross the ocean."

"Ocean?" Din blinked.

"Yes." He looked down towards her with a grin across his face. "And I want you to come with me. I need a cook…and a bodyguard. That is after we find your sister."

Din's eyes watered. "Ryuunosuke-sama."

Din let go of the tears she had been holding back, and brought both of her hands to her face. She cried and whimpered out as everything crashed into her at once but her whimpering stopped when Ryuunosuke wrapped his arms around her. She looked up for a few moments, and then rested her head against his face.

"Ryuunosuke-sama," she whimpered.

"Everything will be fine Din-chan," he whispered. "Just trust me."

Din wrapped her arms around Ryuunosuke. "I do Ryuunosuke-sama. I do!"

Days had passed since Din and Ryuunosuke had spoken to one another, and since that time Din had been assigned a mission. The task was to gain a collection of letters that would help Ryuunosuke on his missions, and help Din find her sister. The part Din didn't like was the face that the mission had to take place in the middle of the night.

The strange men that Din had run into back at the house when she had taken off were gone. Ryuunosuke had checked out the lead but didn't find anything about Setsuna, or even about the men who had been there. It didn't matter to Din, she knew that Ryuunosuke would help and she knew that she was a few steps closer to finding her sister.

Now, however, Din was running along the roofs of the small town. She had taken the papers from the men and had the papers tucked away in the top of her ninja outfit. Unfortunately the men had seen her take the papers, and she was now running away from them the best she could.

The roofs underneath Din clinked when she stepped on them and gave away her position. Men ran beside her on the dirt street, waiting for her to fall from the roof so they could attack her. As Din reached a gap between roofs, her foot snagged in a loose tile. She fell forward, and dangled from the roof.

"Shit," she hissed.

"Stuck?" a male voice asked. "Let me lend you a hand!"

Din looked out in front of her to see a strange man standing there. His skin had a dark tone to it that Din had never seen before, along with hair in a ponytail she had never seen before. He was wearing a plain blue kimono.

"Who…are you?" she asked.

He pulled out a sliver hand gun and playfully bounced it off of his head. "Your bodyguard."

"A bodyguard for you."

"From… Ryuunosuke-sama?"

"Yes ma'am!"

The man grabbed Din by her waist and wiggled her down from the roof. Once she was down, he threw her over his right shoulder and ran back into the middle of the street with the men who had caught up.

"What are you doing?!" Din yelled.

"Savin' you!" he answered.

Without another word the strange man turned around and fired his sliver gun at the men who had been following Din. Two of the men fell and the left over two ran over to the fallen ones.

"We're outta here!" the man said.

The man with Din took off and ran down to the riverbank where Din had been with Ryuunosuke weeks ago. He slid down the grassy plain, and ducked behind a small bridge. He placed Din down on the ground and pressed against the wall with her as people ran by in search for them. Once the men passed over them, and the world fell silent, Din turned to the strange man.

"So you're my bodyguard?" she whispered. "What's your name?"

The man grinned. "Sakamoto Ryoma!" he introduced.

Din crossed her arms. "I'm Hinto Din."

R&R please!