Chapter One ~ Strange Encounters

Sanosuke looked around curiously, startled to see that everything was pitch black. Where am I?

"Welcome, Sagara Sanosuke," called out a crackling voice.

He turned around, startled to see an elderly woman behind him. He shrieked, shouting, "Sand Witch Hag!!"

The old woman gave him a good whap with her cane, glaring at him. "Who's a 'sand witch hag', you rooster head?"

Sanosuke rubbed the back of his head, soothing the bump that had appeared. "W-where am I? Who are you?"

"My name is Taitsukuun," the old woman replied. "I am the guardian to the land of the Shi Ji Ten Chou. Apparently, Ukiyou has sent you to this dimension in your dreams."

Sanosuke blinked a few times, confused. "U-chan did? Chotto, you mean I'm sleeping right now?"

Taitsukuun nodded. "Ukiyou is sleeping as well. She sent you here so that you could see her past."

"Her past?"

"Not the past shared between the both of you, but rather the past that you have never seen when she journeyed to the Shi Ji Ten Chou two years ago."

Taitsukuun gestured towards the globe that appeared next to her, visualizing the growing city of Tokyo. Sanosuke peered into the globe with some hesitation as he began to be pulled into Ukiyou's past....

~

"U-chan! U-chan, hurry up or we're going to miss our boat!"

A young woman slid down the stairs of the inn, clumsily pinning her hair up in a bun with a dagger like pin.

"Okay, I'm coming!" she called out to her friend outside. She turned towards the inn's owner who handed her bag. "Arigatou, obaasan!"

The old woman nodded and smiled. "You're welcome and have a safe trip, Ukiyou-chan!"

"I will!"

Ukiyou ran out of the inn in a hurry, almost knocking over her friend in the process.

"Mou, U-chan, watch where you're going!" her friend scolded.

Ukiyou and her friend, Yui, could easily pass for sisters. They were both petite of frame, with Yui a tad bit taller, and had beautiful, silky, black hair. Ukiyou had always kept her hair up in a bun with her treasured hair pin while Yui tied it back in a low ponytail or left it alone most of the time. The only difference between them was their eyes: Yui with sparkling blue ones and Ukiyou with soft grey ones. Ukiyou also had a scar marred between her eyes from an injury from her childhood during the end of the Sekihoutai.

Yui sighed, shaking her head. "Daijoubu...Ne, is that all you're bringing?" While she had at least five bags of luggage, Ukiyou only carried her satchel which contained some clothing and other precious materials.

Ukiyou nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Nani?!? But we're staying in Shanghai for a month!"

"I can always buy new clothes if I run out, Yui-chan. Oneesan gave me plenty of money."

"And how're you going to buy them when you run out? You can even speak Chinese yet!"

"YET. I'll learn when we're there. Mou, you Hongos are so travel-paranoid, Yui-chan."

"Hey..."

"C'mon, we're going to miss our boat!"

Ukiyou ran towards the docks, her long black hair falling loose from its bun. Yui sighed as she flipped back her ponytail and followed after her, dragging along her luggage.

How can she possibly run in that kimono? I can barely keep up with her in mine...she thought.

<later, on the ship>

"Wow, the sky's so beautiful!" Ukiyou announced as she headed towards the side railing. She could no longer see Yokohama or Japan anymore.

"You can say that again," Yui replied in a tired voice behind her. They had been in her room, putting away the majority of her luggage. "It's almost dark."

She eyed her friend's bag that was still slung over her shoulder. "Aren't you going to put your stuff away?"

"Hm? Nani?" Ukiyou asked.

"Your bag. Aren't you going to put it away? We're going to be on this boat for a while, you know."

"I know, but I want to sketch the sun before it totally disappears."

Yui's lips curled in a small smile. "Now who's travel paranoid?"

"Mou, Yui-chan..." Ukiyou frowned.

The two women stared at one another in deadlock silence before bursting into hysterical laughter. Luckily, nobody was around to hear them.

"Demo, Yui-chan, why'd you want to go with me?" Ukiyou asked when their laughter subsided. "You didn't have to go."

"Of course I have to!" Yui exclaimed. "If not, then who's going to keep an eye out on you when you beat up some guys who're trying to hit on you? You could be arrested, you know."

"Hey," Ukiyou protested. "Those guys last night des----"

Her attention was distracted by dark clouds that here ahead of them. Thunder echoed in the distance. Red lightning streaked across the dark plain before them.

"What's that?" Ukiyou murmured.

"...A storm? I didn't see one when we came up," Yui added.

Footsteps hurriedly came towards them. "Hey, you two young misses there! Please come back under deck! It's too dangerous to be outside right now!"

"Huh? Nande?" Ukiyou asked.

Before the sailor could answer her question, the ship began to rock violently. The ocean waves slammed into the ship as if they were trying to force it out of the way. The knocking and waves tossed everyone on board off balance. One of the waves crashed against the area where Ukiyou stood, taking her along with it. Yui had tried to grab her, but the sailor that had warned them held her back.

"U-CHAN!!" she shouted, struggling against the man's hold. "Let me go! Get a boat, we still have time to get her!"

"Miss, are you INSANE?!?" the sailor exclaimed. "We're in the middle of the Shi Ji Ten Chou! If someone even sets FOOT in the water, they'll never return!"

"What are you TALKING about?!?" Yui shouted. "A girl was just tossed overboard and you LEAVE her there in the ocean?!?"

She wrung herself free from the sailor's grasp and ran towards one of the ship's emergency boats. She jumped onto one and untied the ropes, sending herself splashing down into the water and into the storm. The sailor tried to stop her but gave up after Yui set into the ocean. All he could do was murmur a prayer for the dead as Yui's boat disappeared in the darkness...

<on shore ~ the next morning>

The sweet, salty smell of the ocean air filled her nostrils. Sea gulls chirped in her ears, coaxing her awake. Carefully, slowly, Ukiyou opened her eyes to the morning sun that shined over her.

"Huh..." she murmured as sand and trees began to focus in her view. Ugh...what happened?

"Oi, you're awake!" chirped a familiar voice. "I'm glad."

Ukiyou forced herself to focus and get up to turn to the voice's owner. She shook her head to get rid of the sand in her hair.

"Yui-chan?"

Yui smiled and waved, happy to see that her friend was still alive next to her. "You fell off the boat and I went to get you. I lost sight of the ship, though, so I landed on this island here."

"Sou ka..." Ukiyou murmured in thought. Then she gasped, and looked around frantically. "Yui-chan, where's..."

"Daijoubu," Yui patted Ukiyou's bag in her lap. "You're bag's still here. You still clung onto it. It's a miracle that only your clothes got soaking wet. All the other stuff inside's just fine and dry." She tossed the bag over to Ukiyou.

"Arigatou," Ukiyou said. Then she looked around again as they stood up and brushed off the sand on their clothes and hair. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," Yui replied. "I've been trying to figure it out ever since we got here."

"Masaka," Ukiyou said in astonishment as she stared her friend closely. She noticed dark rings under her eyes. "You've been awake all night?!?"

"I had to!" Yui yelled back. "We don't know where we are, what the people are like, how we're going to get back, and on top of all that, you were unconscious! How could I sleep?!?"

Ukiyou stared at her friend for a moment before sighing in defeat. "Okay...you've got a point." She paused for a moment in thought. "Are you going to be okay when we're walking around this...island?"

"Yeah," Yui replied as she regained her composure. "I'll be fine." She then frowned. "Mou, I let all of my stuff on that ship."

"See? I had a feeling that you'll be needing these," Ukiyou said proudly, waving her bag. "Now you see why I carry my bag with me at all times?"

"In this situation: yes. Now how about we get going to see if there's civilization?"

<some time later>

Ukiyou and Yui trudged over yet another hill before collapsing in a heap. After leaving the beach, they walked through some hills full of forests and finally reached over yet another hill to get out of the forest. Now they faced a barren wasteland, their harsh winds beginning to sting their eyes.

"Man, how much longer?" Ukiyou asked.

"Why're you asking me for?" Yui asked back. "Do I look like a mind reader to you?"

Silence lingered before Ukiyou spoke up again. "I'm hungry..."

Yui turned towards her friend. "You didn't eat dinner again, did you?"

"I was about to eat some after I drew the skyline."

"..."

More silence lingered until they both managed to stand up again. Yui began to wander to the side to see if there was anything else besides desert. Ukiyou, however, stayed where she was.

"I want some sukiyaki," she muttered. "And sushi. And fried soba with tof----"

"Is that ALL you want to think of right now?!?" Yui shouted in frustration. "FOOD?!?!? Can't you think of how we're----"

A hand had popped up behind her, covering her mouth. She was too weak to fight against her assailant. Ukiyou, however, apparently hadn't noticed and continued on her list of meals.

"---u. Maybe some of that okinomiyaki that Tokio-neesan was experimenting on. Oh yeah, I definitely want some of oneesan's special stir fry, don't you, Yui-chan?" she turned around as she asked the last question and saw her friend struggling against a rather large man. Three more men were behind him.

"Y-Yui-chan!!"

Yui managed to wring her head free as she was being dragged away. "U-chan!"

"Hehehe, what a find!" said the man who held Yui. "We can sell you two for a good price."

Slave traders? Ukiyou thought. Her fists clenched tightly in anger. "What the hell are you doing with my friend you bastards??"

The man looked at Ukiyou as if she had just appeared. "Heh, you bitches are going to get a good pri---"

"Kantasu Tobikunai!!"

Ukiyou tossed out her kunai hidden in the sleeves of her kimono at the group of slave traders. Many of the kunai struck home at her opponents, including the man that had a hold on Yui. Yui fell to the ground, exhausted. Most of the men around her were writhing in pain, taking out the kunai that had delved into their bodies.

The man who had gotten Yui clutched his bleeding shoulder and growled in anger. He raised his arm to charge forward, shouting, "Why you bitch!!!"

Before he could give out the signal to his cronies, another hand had caught his arm and twisted back where it came. The man groaned in pain, sharply turning his head to the new person.

"Yamero," said the young man behind him.

Ukiyou and Yui stared in awe at their rescuer. He was a young man just a bit older than they were by possibly a year or two with dark blue hair and dark grey eyes.

"Who the hell are you?!?" the leader demanded at the young man behind him.

The young man didn't reply. All he did was glance back at the other three men who were beginning to surround him and their leader.

"What the hell are you guys doing just standing there?!?" their leader shouted. "Get him!"

In a flash, the men and Yui and Ukiyou's rescuer engaged in hand to hand combat. The two were immediately impressed at the level of their rescuer's martial arts skill as he took down all of his opponents one by one. His forehead...he had a kanji symbol on his forehead...Ukiyou noticed. ...Is that...Is that 'oni' on his forehead?

Each slave trader landed on top of the other, the leader last to fall.

"Agh! My arm! My arm!" wailed the leader.

"L-let's get out of here!" they all shouted, running off.

The young man watched them go and turned back to his two heroines in distress as soon as they faded from view. A genuine smile was on his face and the symbol on his head had disappeared.

"Are you two okay?" he asked.

"A-arigatou gozaimasu," Yui stammered.

The rescuer's smile turned into a full out grin as he squatted down in front of them, hand outstretched.

"Well, a better way of thanks is giving me some money," he said in a child like way.

Ukiyou and Yui stared at him in disbelief. "Huh?"

His grin faded into a questioning look. "By 'huh', that means you two ladies don't have any money with you, don't you?" He sighed and stood up. "Ladies, money makes the world go 'round."

The girls looked at him in astonishment at his behavior as he turned around to leave.

"Che, why did I save you two for then?" they heard him mutter.

"Oi! Who do you think we are?!?" Yui yelled at him, standing up angrily.

Ukiyou pondered in thought, mumbling, "I might have some spare money." She began to fumble through her back as Yui chased after their rescuer.

"Hey! Do you know where we are??" Yui shouted at the man as she continued running. Then suddenly, a blue light surrounded her, paralyzing her body. This light...

She strained herself to turn around to Ukiyou. "...U-chan!!"

And she disappeared.

Not hearing her friend shout, Ukiyou continued to rummage through her bag until she found a decent amount of yen that might satisfy their rescuer.

"Ja! This should be enough..." she said and blinked in confusion. "...Yui-chan?"

She stood up, looking around frantically. "Ne, doko? Yui-chan? Yui-chan!!!"