Disclaimer: All of the characters from Fushigi Yuugi, and Rurouni Kenshin do not belong to me. They belong to whoever created and produced them. So, whatever you do, please don't sue me! I'm a poor high school student and don't have any money! Besides, I'm just writing this for the sake of fanfiction, not money.
*thoughts*
/what had happened in the past/
(time setting)
Chapter One ~ Sagara Ukiyou
(1864, Genji 1st)
"You're in my way! Move it!"
The soldiers did not budge, despite knowing who their opponent was. Instead, they drew their swords against their red-haired opponent. The red-haired young man also did not move nor drew his sword. The woman behind him looked on with her coal black eyes.
"We were trained under the Mushito school and will not back down to anyone!" one of the soldiers stated, and took a risk of attacking.
"Like I care!"
At the same time, the red-haired young man attacked. He drew his sword at the last second, however, slicing his opponent in half. The other men charged, but he easily disposed of them. He turned to look back at the woman who nodded in appreciation but her attention switched over his shoulder where more men were appearing around the corner.
*Reinforcements?*
But they fell as quickly as they came. His emotionless eyes widened, and then lowered his sword a bit. He patiently waited as a figure came out from the shadows. The figure was a young woman around the same age as the man, wearing a sleeveless top that bared her shoulders and black loose fitting pants. She also had the same, empty eyes.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled and folded her arms across her chest. Her sword was strapped at the back of her obi, its hilt visibly shown in the darkness. "Daijoubu. I don't consider you my enemy, Hitokiri Battousai. Or should I say Himura Kenshin?"
Kenshin was a bit shocked. "How do you---"
"How do I know your real name?" the young woman finished. "That I can't tell you. Watashi no Kanazaki Aiko, a Riskbreaker." Her eyes darted back behind as more footsteps were heard. "The both of you better go see Katsura-san. I'll take care of this."
~
(1878, Meiji 11th)
"Oro?"
Kenshin was taken out of his train of thought by a loud noise coming from the dojo. *Kaoru and Yahiko...* He shook his head in expaseration, knowing that the two will probably always be like this. Even after at least half a year with them...things were still the same. Peaceful. He headed toward the dojo to sort things out a little.
"No, you're still doing it wrong! Quit concentrating so hard with the movements of the sword!" Kaoru's voice rang out.
"Shutup, busu. I'm doing my best."
"What did you just call me?!?"
The door slid open, and in appeared Kenshin's redhead. "Anno...Kaoru-dono, Yahiko--"
"KENSHIN, YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!!"
Out went Kenshin and the door slammed closed. Spiral-eyed and upside down out went Kenshin. "Orororororo....."
(somewhere in the outskirts of Tokyo)
A young woman overlooked the bustling and booming city below her. Her grey eyes contrasted with the darkness of her hair, yet blended in with the colors of her kimono-like outfit. She took out a small piece of paper, apparently a map.
"So this is Tokyo," she murmured to herself. "I never thought it would change so much after all these years..."
(in front of a ranshackled home)
The same woman knocked on the door of the home. No answer. She knocked on it again, yet more vigorously this time. Still no answer. Finally fed up with the silence, the woman banged on the door as hard as she could shouting, "Tsukoika Katsuhiro, open this damn door now before I tell the whole of Japan what you were doing ten years in the Sekihoutai!"
The door quickly slid open, and Tsunan's slightly annoyed face appeared. "Now who the hell are..." He trailed off.
The young woman grinned and then placed an innocent look on her face. "And what were you about to say just now?"
"I-I can't believe it," Tsunan finally managed to say after a moment of silence. He caressed the side of her cheek, as if checking to see what he saw was real. "Is it really you?"
She grinned again. "Hai, Sagara Ukiyou is alive and well!"
He picked her up about the waist and swung her around. "U-chan, you're alive!!!"
She giggled and was set back down. "Of course, baka. I've been alive."
"Well, I heard rumors after the ambush that...well, you know..."
"That my brother was captured and beheaded for all the world to see?" Ukiyou answered for him in a soft voice. "And that I was killed during the ambush?"
Tsunan answered just as soft. "Yeah, is that how you got that scar?" He touched the rough skin in the middle of her face.
Ukiyou blinked a few times. "Oh this? Yeah."
"But how did you when you were..."
"Slashed across the face?" she finshed for him again. "A woman saved me. She took me in as her younger sister so I wouldn't be found. I'm living with her and her family right now."
"Sou ka..." Tsunan replied. He then grinned. "You know, Sano's going to be psyched when he hears that you're here. He's been telling me time and again that he's been worried sick about you."
"Sano-chan's here?" Ukiyou asked incredulously.
Tsunan nodded and grinned again. "I think falling off a cliff made him a bit more stupid than usual."
They both laughed for they knew their gangster-friend all too well.
"Oh, that reminds me," Ukiyou said after they died down. "Do you know somebody named Himura Kenshin? My sister's been looking for him."
"Himura? Oh, yeah I know him. Sano's friend. He lives at the Kamiya Dojo..."
(Kamiya Dojo)
Kenshin once again stopped doing the laundry, but this time it wasn't because of Kaoru and Yahiko's usual squabbling. He felt a strong ki outside the gate. *It couldn't be Saitoh...* Gripping the hilt of his sakaba, he cautiously opened the gate. Ukiyou stood there, a bit startled for she was about to knock on the gate.
*A girl with that strong ki?* "May I help you, de gozaru?"
"A-anno..." Ukiyou stuttered. *Geez, what oneechan said about him was right* "Are you...um...Himura Kenshin?"
Kenshin, in turn, was a bit surprised as well. "Hai."
"Watashi no Sa-Kanazaki Ukiyou, desu," she continued and bowed. "Kanazaki Aiko's sister."
( a couple of hours later...)
Dear Kenshin,
Istashiburi, ne. I'm finally able to find you. You've been so hard to find these last ten years. Well, I've been busy myself, come to think of it. Can you believe that I am a mother of five now? My husband's doing most of the Riskbreaker work nowadays, so I don't have to go anywhere. That's beside the point, though. I would have come and told you myself, but I have to take care of the children. I'm sure you have heard of the man named Yukishiro Enishi. Yes, your wife's brother is still alive. Alive and well, I might add. There's been rumors about him at my headquarters. It seems that he was the one responsible for supplying Shishio Makoto with the arsenals used during his killing spree just before his death. Enishi plans on coming back to Japan along with some other people who are Ukiyou's enemies: the Seiryuu seishi and some others. About three years ago, she went on a journey in China for her training. Situations didn't go so well when she came back at the end of the year. Most of the people she met have died, and her enemies are still looking for her. This is the reason why I sent her here. Ukiyou knows one of your friends, Sagara Sanosuke, I recall. She is Sagara Ukiyou, the lost sister of the captain of the Sekihoutai. I found her ten years ago and she's been staying with me ever since, taking my last name in order to hide her identity. I trained her well, so she will be able to help you when the time comes. Until then, please let her stay with you.
~ Kanazaki Aiko
*Aiko...* Kenshin thought to himself as he finished reading the letter. He looked over at Kaoru and Ukiyou, who were deep in conversation and getting along pretty well. He then looked away from them, lost in his own memories. Memories that he wished had never happened. *Tomoe...*
"U-CHAN!!!!"
Ukiyou yelped as she was picked up and hugged really hard by Sanosuke.
"I can't believe you're alive!" he exclaimed.
"Uh...huh..." Ukiyou barely managed to say. "I've been alive for a while. And um...Sano? I can barely breath."
He looked at her for a split second and then set her down, grinning. "Heh, heh, sumanu."
She frowned back at him, looking up. "Mou, how did you get so tall?"
He grinned again. Kaoru interrupted them, "Anno, you know Ukiyou, Sano?"
" 'Course I do!" He put an arm around Ukiyou. "Known her since the Sekihoutai, right, U-chan?"
"Uh huh," Ukiyou answered back, wincing a bit.
"So you were part of the Sekihoutai, too?"
"Hai. I'm Sagara Sozo's sister."