Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Memory of My Past ❯ A Distant Memory ( Chapter 1 )

Memory of My Past

by: dreamaker13

Summary:When a figure from Kenshin's very distant past arrives at the Kamiya Dojo, confusion, old tales and old memories emerge. Will Kenshin be able to re-open his heart to the past he thought he lost or will the past just hinder his future with his family?

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

A/N:I'm back! I know I haven't updated my other fics and I am very sorry for that. In truth, I haven't been struck by inspiration at all lately. The tides might change though and I might be able to update a few.

Anyway, this fic came to me when I was watching the first Rurouni Kenshin OVA series. I was depressed the rest of the day after I watched that. Then, I thought, what if this and that happened... So, I came up with this fic! I hope you enjoy this and I hope I enjoy it too... "^_^

  Concentration...

   To concentrate on one's breathing.

   Serenity...

   To clear the mind of thoughts that may disrupt the chi path flowing within one's being.

   Focus...

   To be aware of the silence, taking in the sounds of life.

   At peace...

   To let one's chi escape from one's body and roam around its environment.

   Someone.

   The soft breeze blew, tossing his dark locks framing his strong face. A pair of blue eyes as cold as the winter snow slowly opened, his breath still in a trance. He need not look back to know who it was.

   "You..."

   "Nihao...Aoshi."

Chapter 1: A Distant Memory

    Aoshi sat still, his blue eyes focused on the tatami clad floor. His body was a picture of calmness and serenity. His breathing was even and his eyes were blank. His eyes were ice blue when hit by the light afternoon sun.

    He was caught out of his trance when she started to swirl the powder with the liquid inside the bowl. Aoshi watched her hands as she continued the ritual until she turned the bowl thrice and presented it to him. He accepted the bowl, brought it up to his lips and silently sipped the warm liquid in small amounts. Aoshi took his time in sipping the tea, he had no reason to rush things. After a few more minutes of silent sipping, the former Okashira set the bowl down and gave it back to his companion who picked it up and set it aside.

    Silence again ensued. No one spoke. Aoshi kept his piercing gaze on his companion who returned Aoshi's gaze with her calculating ones. Both sat completely still, calculating the other's next move. It had been almost three minutes before the silence broke.

    "I see you still haven't changed, Aoshi," she commented casually.

    "Why have you come back to Japan," he asked, straight and to the point. She smirked.

    "Always straight to the point. You are the same Okashira I once knew. And they said you were losing your touch." Aoshi kept silent, his gaze not wavering. Her smile deepened.

    "If you must know," she continued. "I came back to Japan because I wanted to. I am a free woman, Aoshi. I can do what I like."

    "You are not safe here," was Aoshi's curt reply.

    "The war has passed, Aoshi,"

    "But the aftermaths have not." Aoshi's voice rose, almost shocking his companion. "Riots are still being held all around Tokyo against the new government."

    "And? I don't see where I fit in all this," she said cockily. She knew that the former Okashira's patience also had a limit like any human being.

    "Sooner or later they will find out who you are and they will try to influence you to take part in their revolt," Aoshi said calmly. The smirk was still evident on her face. "Or have you forgotten what your family was?"

    Her eyes suddenly narrowed and her smirk disappeared. "The new government is still sweeping up its own mess. I don't want you to be caught in their broom and get in trouble. They will know who and what your father was."

    "Don't speak nonsense, Aoshi! You know where I came from so don't repeat the same lies!" she burst out, her clear eyes hardened in anger. Aoshi's hard gaze softened. She saw this and calmed down. "They wouldn't know who I was. My features are not exactly Japanese. They would just consider me as a gaijin and overlook me. I am too different to be one of them."

    She averted her eyes to the tatami. "Only one other person in all of Japan look exactly like me. I couldn't possibly be one of them. I couldn't!"

    "I came to Japan because I knew I could never belong to them. I was too different. I tried to look like them, to erase who I really was but I couldn't. There was something missing. Something. And I knew I left that missing piece in Japan. That I know for sure."

    The sunset sunk lower under the horizon. Footsteps could barely be heard outside the shoji door.

    "Aoshi-sama! Tadaima!"

    She raised her gaze towards Aoshi with an expressionless smile. "I must go." She quickly packed the tea set and stood up walking towards the shoji door. "It was nice speaking to you again, Aoshi. Ja!"

    "Tokyo," she stopped at mid-step hearing Aoshi speak. "In Tokyo is where you will find your missing piece."

    She faintly smiled as she opened the shoji door and stepped out. "Dakedo," Aoshi continued. "Things have changed and almost everyone had moved on." Aoshi closed his eyes. "It may be hard to open up one's heart to the painful past."

    She gave a curt nod. "Arigato, Aoshi."

    Misao hummed happily as she helped the others bring in the groceries. They had been out all day trying to find all the ingredients for dinner that night. "Aoshi-sama would be so happy when he sees what a treat we'll be cooking for tonight!"

    She was nearing the kitchen when she stopped as she saw someone come out from one of the rooms. The person looked familiar but different at the same time. She frowned as she watched the figure step out of the front door and out the gate. A frown marred Misao's face utterly confused. "Himura?"

    Saitou sat behind his desk. He opened his top right drawer blindly looking for something. His left hand went into his left pant-pocket and fished out a lighter. He placed the lighter on his desk and continued to blindly search inside his drawer.

   "Fujita-san," a fellow officer called, coming into his office*. Saitou looked at the officer with a bored look, his right hand still in the drawer. "Hmm?"

    "The chief* would like to speak with you." Saitou gave a curt nod and watched as the officer left his office without another word. his hand dug deep inside his drawer once more until he pulled out a piece of plastic wrapped around a sheet of aluminum.

    "Che," Saitou grunted as he threw the trash into the bin. He stood up, shoved his lighter back into his left pocket and exited his office towards the captain's. Reaching the chief's office, Saitou went straight inside without bothering to knock. Stepping inside, Saitou closed the door behind him and took a few steps forward towards the chief's desk.

    Moments of silence passed with neither saying a word. The lieutenant* stood beside the captain's desk while the captain stood with his back to Saitou and looking out the window.

    "The rebellions are increasing in the countryside," the chief said, his back still to Saitou. "It seems that the rebels are regrouping and recruiting new people."

    "The rebels are using propaganda to sway the people into joining their forces." the lieutenant added. "We have information that the rebels are planning another attack on the parliament*."

    "Is this it? You called for me to just tell me useless information," Saitou said rudely. He grunted as he turned and walked to the door. "If you want me to take care of the rebels for you, I will. Call me when there's something more important than this."

    "There is more, Fujita-san," the chief said. Saitou stopped but did not turn to face the chief. The chief gave a sigh before turning to his desk. He opened his drawer and slapped a folder on top of his cluttered desk. Saitou turned slightly and raised a brow at the folder. "Takahashi Seiji. I presume you knew who he was."

    "He was a samurai very close to the Shogun. He disappeared after the war." Saitou said as if reciting a fact to a teacher. "Rumours say he's already dead, killed during his stay in China. He won't be a threat unless he's still alive."

    "Takahashi is dead." the chief confirmed. "But he's not whom we're worried about." The chief opened the folder and showed him a name. "Takahashi Akarumi mostly known as Akari."

    "Akari?" Saitou fully faced the chief but his yellow eyes were staring intently on the name. "Takahashi Akari. His niece?"

    "Not quite," the lieutenant said, stepping forward. "She is his daughter."

    "His daughter?" Saitou raised an eyebrow. "But Takahashi was unable. An illegitimate daughter perhaps?"

    The chief shook his head. "She does not seemed to be related by blood to either Takahashi or his wife. She must have been orphaned then picked up by Takahashi from the streets."

    Saitou picked the file up from the desk and stared at the photograph within the file. "Not unlikely." Saitou agreed. "What do you want me to do with her?"

    "She was reported to have arrived here in Japan about a week ago." The chief looked straight at Saitou. "There have been rumours circulating about her involvement in the rebellions but we haven't suspected her yet."

    "Do you want her dead before she could even come in contact with the rebels?" Saitou suggested bluntly, emotion not present in his molten orbs.

    The chief shook his head. "We're just making sure. She was said to be last spotted in the outskirts of Tokyo. She should be in the city by this afternoon. We want you to investigate her and be ready. We never know what she might do."

    "So you want me to follow her and find out her reasons for coming here?" Saitou smirked. "That wouldn't be too hard."

    "Follow her but do not harm her," the chief paused as if in thought. "Yet."

    Saitou kept his smirk as he pocketed the photograph then dumped the rest of the file on the desk. He turned around then walked out the door.

    "Fujita-san," the lieutenant cried. "Are you not taking her file with you?"

    "I won't need it," Saitou said his smirk still intact. "I can find information about her on my own."

    "Will you be starting on the investigation?" the lieutenant persisted.

    "Ah." Saitou confirmed. "I just need to buy a pack before starting. But don't worry. I'll pass anything I find interesting."

    It was busy at the Akabeko that afternoon. The booths were full and everybody was constantly at work. The restaurant was filled with noise and chatter. The waitresses were constantly being on demand to the point where Tae had to wait on tables herself. Tae had just finished writing the order of a customer when she heard two women talking at a nearby table.

    "Look at that girl," whispered one of the women. "She looks familiar. Have I seen her anywhere before?"

    "I doubt it," commented the second woman. "Look at her clothes. They look foreign."

    "Yes, but she somehow looks familiar," a pause when the first woman thought. "Ah! Could she be related to that rurouni currently staying at the Kamiya Dojo?"

    "Hmm?" the second woman squinted her eyes at the direction of the girl. "She does, doesn't she? But she looks like a gaijin."

    "Well, so does that rurouni."

    "Hmm?" Tae turned around, looking at the women.

    "Excuse us, Tae-san," the women said sheepishly. "We were just talking about that girl by the entrance."

    Tae turned towards the entrance and frowned.

    "The Kamiya Dojo?" a costumer talking to the girl said as he thought, rubbing his chin. "It's not far from here. It's about a ten-minute walk straight ahead. You'll be able to see it when you get near the river."

    "Arigato gozaimasu," the girl said, bowing as she went out the restaurant.

    "She looks like a foreigner but she seems familiar," the first one said. "I wonder who she is." Tae kept staring at the door. "Himura...-san?"

    She walked down the road slowly, taking her time to look at the shops littering the sides. It had been a long time since she had been to Japan and it had changed a lot from the time she had been there. She twirled her opened umbrella but not removing it from her shoulder. It wasn't raining but she did not appreciate getting burned by the sun. Besides, the umbrella's shadow combined with her bangs hid her features from the public. She had heard whispers when she entered that busy restaurant and smiled. It wasn't unexpected.

    She halted when she heard the flowing of water. She looked to her right and saw the river. She just stood there and stared at it, her hands still clutching her opened umbrella. She diverted her eyes to look straight ahead and there she saw it. She walked on until she stopped at the entrance. She easily read the sign on the wall. It read, "Kamiya Dojo". She tightened her grip on her umbrella. She looked at the entrance from top to bottom and inhaled. She closed her eyes, remembering.

    "Let me finish," Aoshi said, turning his head towards her. "The person you are looking for is happy. Anything from the past might disrupt that. Be careful with what you say."

    She stood still, waiting for him to continue. Her hand was poised on the shoji door, her eyes cast downward. "When you get to Tokyo, go to the Kamiya Dojo. It's the first place to look."

    She waited a few more moments before silently sighing and opening the door. "Ri-chan," She stopped at the tone of his voice. She turned her head around to look at him. "Hai?"

    "Don't get yourself into trouble. I wouldn't be there to look after you anymore." At Aoshi's words and soft gaze, a blush crept up to her cheeks as she turned her head back around.

    "Ja, Aoshi." she said in a hurried voice, opened the shoji door and stepped out.

    "Hiya!" She opened her eyes, hearing the sound of the student's voices echoing in the dojo. She smiled, finally able to relax. She gripped her umbrella harder not from anxiety but from excitement, patted herself from any dust that might have been caught on her outfit and knocked thrice on the wooden door.

    Kaoru looked up from her sweeping when she heard three knocks on the entrance door. She turned her head towards the dojo. She smiled when she saw Yahiko, teaching the little children. She had been training him for at least a year now and she knew he could handle teaching the little ones.

    Kaoru looked back at the door. Kenshin had gone out to buy tofu and he wouldn't knock unless he was unable to open the door. Putting her broom down she hurried towards the entrance. "Hai, one moment please." Kaoru stopped at the door and opened it. What she saw made her eyes widen.

    "Konnichiwa. Hajimemashite."

To be continued...

Additional notes: (words in the story with an asterisk [*])

*Saitou's office - I am not sure what Saitou's rank was in the anime or the manga so, I'm just making this all up. I read that the REAL Saitou Hajime had numerous ranks during the Meiji so he must have had an office by this time, ne?

*The chief was the short guy with a huge forehead and a mustache in the anime. It was him, wasn't it?

*The lieutenant was the tall police man with the glasses who never showed his eyes. Again, I am not sure if he IS the lieutenant.

*Japan's government is a form of parliament. I don't know if it was already parliament then. I seriously need more research.

Takahashi Seiji is a completely made up character and so is Takahashi Akarumi (Akari).

So? How was it? Please review and tell me what you think. If it was a bit scattered tell me. I feel that it was. If it was a lame attempt at Japanese, tell me. I can shift to not using them at all. I just wanted to create an imagery of Japan or something. It's a bit difficult to do that with plain English but if the Japanese was used lamely here tell me. If my facts were not so straight, tell me. If you didn't like the cliffhanger, tell me. But I don't think I could do anything about that though. I just can't help it.

The chapter might be short but its just the first chapter, ne? There's still more to come. I hope.

I really do appreciate the feedback.

Read and Review!

dreamaker13