Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Feuding Hearts ❯ Lost In The Rain ( Chapter 11 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

***Flashback to 20 years ago***

They had no clue how they had gotten there, No clue as to why, either. All the knew was they were together, lost and confused and that wasn't a big help. As they wondered down the road in silence they came across a peddler who was "admiring" their unique clothing.

With the jewelry that they had Siobhan, Alayna, Kyle and Casey had gotten four kimonos and some matching shoes from the passing merchant. (They couldn’t walk around with the clothing they had on. People would start to wonder and the last thing they wanted/needed was to draw attention to themselves.) Kyle had been on cloud nine when she picked out her ivory kimono with pink and purple flowers. Siobhan had taken awhile but had picked a blood red and black kimono with silver outlines, and like always Casey picked a dark blue one with black trim. Alayna had walked around the traveling merchant’s cart and with no other opportunity picked out a dark green kimono with silver and white roses on the base and crest trim.

They all immediately hauled behind and rock got dressed, though Alayna had opted to leave her pants on. They then bartered with him over the price of their clothing, taking the first step to saying goodbye to the world they once knew.

After some begging and pleading Alayna finally got the chance to go on her own for a while, saying she wanted to get a look around …well…where ever they were. After selling her jewelry she had a few yen left in the small purse she had “borrowed” from the cart.

‘Hey! He charged an arm and a leg for this damn outfit! He owed me this purse! And also, it was his fault. It matched way to much for me NOT to get it!’Alayna thought to herself, playing with a small but annoying curl that kept falling in front of her mint green eyes. You could make yourself believe anything if you really thought about it for a while.

The countryside was truly breath taking. Large rolling hills with small flowered bushes that seem to pop up everywhere over the unfathomable jade grass. She almost felt like this was an inexcusable action, walking on the grass that is, and so she looked around and puttered over to the path before heading South... or at least what she thought was South, she didn't know.

Alayna soon lost track of time as she was walking and before she knew it she walked into a small wall. Looking up she noticed a problem. The sky was turning a dark bitter shade of black, and that only meant one thing... it was going to rain. Hopefully it wouldn’t be a downpour.

'Why didn't I ask where her they were going!?' she thought, crossing her arms in front of her chest, feeling the soft fabric underneath her fingers.

“Oh well, kind of late now...” she mumbled, looking at the building in front of her. Well, at least the top. She walked up the long stairs before her eyes went wide as she jumped behind one of the pillars.

“Himura! Oh! Where is that red haired moron!” Misao yelled, running across the courtyard to the small house.

‘What the…' Alayna thought to herself, thinking she must be losing her mind. Still, something in her wanted to keep going. So after the “look-a-like Misao” ran off she poked her head up and, without a moment of hesitation, stood up and walked right into the middle of the court yard.

‘This is too much!’ she thought to herself, hearing the tell-tale signs of thunder in the distance. She figured she had 20 minutes to find Siobhan, Casey and Kyle before the rain started. “AH! I gotta tell them about this!” she screamed before she ran off, not knowing that someone had noticed her. The young man, around 20, watched the strange girl running off, shaking his head.

“I should tell Kenshin about this…but…eh she don’t seem like she could cause much trouble. I should do it anyways…after I find him that is,” Sanosuke mumbled, walking down the stairs to head to town.

***

“Please, please, please, please, please, PLEASE! I just wanna explore a little! Pretty please, Siobhan! Let me go!” Alayna begged.

“Okay Alayna, fine. You can explore for exactly two minutes. Two minutes! If you aren’t back, I’ll find you. And I won’t be pleased when I do. Go,” Siobhan finally relented.

Alayna squealed for joy and ran off leaving Siobhan, Kyle and Casey behind on the path. Kyle poked Siobhan. “You know you’ll regret that.”

“I know. I just couldn’t deal with being the mom anymore. She said pretty please. How do you deal with that?” Siobhan replied. The three waited a few minutes while speculating on what exactly had happened to them. After about ten minutes Siobhan’s patience finally was gone.

“I’m going to go find her. You two stay here. That way we can just follow the sound of your voices to come back,” she announced, heading off in the direction Alayna had gone.

After about 20 minutes of hard searching she couldn’t find her friend. Deciding that maybe Alayna had gone back to the path, she headed back there. No one was there. Siobhan was now pissed. She was alone, hungry, and pissed - not a good combination. Finally she decided to continue along alone. She figured that the path would lead to some major city that she couldn’t remember if the mercheant had told them the name of; possibly her friends met up and headed there. Now that she had a set course of action, she felt better and decided to continue on.

By the time she got to the “city”, ‘ More like a two-horse town’ the sky foreboded with the promise of rain. ‘There is no way I’ll find them tonight. I might as well find an inn or something. Maybe I can get some dinner.’ The girls had sold most of their jewelry earlier to buy clothes, but Siobhan had held back her rings. She had two besides her class ring, which she really wouldn’t sell. She went into an inn that was near the middle of the town (she still refused to think of it as a city) and haggled with the manager until she had a clean room, dinner and some money left over . After eating she congratulated herself on her business skills then went upstairs so that she could wait for the now pounding rain to lull her to sleep.

***

After waiting long enough at the spot they had arrived in, Casey made a horrible discovery. "Er..Huston, we have a problem."

Kyle sighed. "What's wrong?"

"I gotta pittle," her dark-haired friend answered through clenched teeth. She crinkled her nose and her gold-rimmed glasses slid down it.

"Oh, you're bladder has the worst timing," the shorter girl groaned, sitting herself down on the grass.

"I'm seriously ready to go in the woods," she continued, swaying back and forth. The way she refused to stay still was a testiment to her geniune need to pee.

"Okay, go. But please don't leave me alone here. It looks almost like it's gonna rain soon," Kyle requested, looking at the horizon.

Casey was already running off. "I'll be right back I promise!"

[about one hour later]

"Stupid tree!" Casey snapped, punching the innanimate object she was furious with. However, tree + punch = pain. Lots and lots of pain.

The girl opted for kicking the grass instead, rubbing her throbbing right fist as she grumbled cusses under her breath. This sucked, royally. She was stuck in the middle of God-knows-where, with nothing to go by but the fact that they wore kimonos and didn't use American currancy. Oh, that was just PLENTY of information! Yeah right...

She's bee wondering around this forest for an hour now, occasionally stopping to rest or take a small nap to help her aching feet. He kimono was littered with small scratches from thorn bushes and tree branches and stained with dirt form the ground. She must have looked horrible, for she had no brush for her hair or soap for her skin. She began to lose all care about the state she was in, letting her kimono slip off a bit to reveal her shoulder as she trudged onward with no idea where she was going or what she would come across.

***

Kyle presently turned her gaze upward. The wind was picking up as depressing gray rainclouds overtook the blue sky. Even the trees of the forest surrounding her shivered as she tried to pull her kimono collar tighter around her neck.

And then she heard it. Thunder rolling in the distance. "Oh, no," she cried, impulsively covering her ears and eyes, and bolting stright into the woods, as if looking for somewhere to hide. Finally coming to her senses, she looked around to find herself in the middle of a tight-knit grove of cherry trees.

Kyle's arms slipped limply down against her soft ivory kimono as she looked on in awe. It was late spring, and every tree glistened bright pink in the last of the sun's light. Likewise, the ground had become a blanket of tiny petals and flowers. The small girl fell to her knees in order to hold them in her hands. Just as she raised them to her face and had taken in their scent, it began to pour. Hard. Reality sure does suck sometimes.

'Great', she thought sarcastically, tears beginning to blur her vision. 'I'm alone, lost, and now I'm soaking wet...' That's when the real desparity of her predicament hit. The tears immediately turned to sobs. "I'm stuck thousands of miles -- no -- a hundred YEARS away from home. AND THERE'S NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO ABOUT IT!!!" The screams shocked her as the trees repeated them back to her. A sudden bolt of lightening lit the sky and the earth shook. Kyle squealed and took shelter under the largest tree, and thankfully, it was quite dry for now.

'What is wrong with me!?' she scolded herself, wiping her eyes with the kimono's sleeves. "I'm 16. It's time to start taking care of myself. And that means no more being whiney and indecisive. A thunderstorm is will not kill me. And I'm not even wet all the way through.' She felt under her obi to check for dampness and instead came across the new journal and pencil she had bought with a bit of the extra money she had gotten for selling her T-shirt. Although the thought of getting rid of anything from home hurt deeply, her beautiful kimono and these new items brought her more happiness than cheap jewelry and a T-shirt ever could. And with that, she opened up to the first page and stared at it until, at last, the words came to her. A song.

"Arashi" [Storm]

Fears swallow me whole
I've got nowhere else to go
No one turns to greet me
But I've been here before

Street lights flicker on and off
Consciousness does the same
A spirit with no true existence
Only a shadow in the rain

Past me, empty faces
Eyes cast to the ground
I shout out loud to them all
Yet not one hears the sound

Expect no real justification
Nobody will explain
Why you've been turned into the ghost
That wanders in the rain

Reflections in a puddle
Won't show me the way home
My only friend here may be myself
But I can't keep me warm

(My heart is with you always
My heart can lead me home
* "Ame no you narizumu..." [Rhythm like the rain...]
But for now, the rain will fall
* "Taemanai..." [Never stopping...]
And I am still alone)

"Tsuzuku..." [Go on...]

Remnants of the storm that shook me
Cry out my name
Still, I ignore their every word
Got to escape the falling rain

"No de..." {Because...]
I want to live again...
"Watashi wa ikigai ga arinasai..." [Be my reason to live...]

"Hello, miss," a young man's voice spoke softly as she finished the first line, startling her and causing her to slam the book shut. She turned to face him.

"H-hello," Kyle finally replied. The person was crouched beside her. He wore a wide-rimmed straw hat that hid his identity in shadows.

Taking notice of the frightened look on the girl's face, the stranger stood up and began to remove his hat. 'Eep, what if he's some weird guy who planning to...to --' But before she could complete her thought, he had taken it off and shown himself to be none other than Soujirou Seta! Except...older....and.....

"Are you alright?" he asked as he held out his hand to help her up. Gingerly, she accepted it. Damp cherry blossoms clung to her robe and fell as she stood.

"Ah, I'm...fine," she replied, unable to resist mirroring back the smile on Soujirou's face.

"Pretty horrible weather we're having..." he said, looking upward for only a second before returning to her. "Hm. What are you doing out here, anyway?" He smiled again.

"Oh...I..." She figured it was safe to tell the truth, and ended up blurting it all out. "Well, I managed to get separated from my friends, got stuck in this downpour, ran through the woods, and ended up here."

"So you say you got lost? We're really not far from the main road, you know." Soujirou laughed. "You don't live around here, do you?"

Kyle frowned slightly. She would have answered, but suddenly lightening struck again and she yelped before clinging to him and burying her face in his cloak.

'What is she doing? She seems so much like a helpless little girl,' Soujirou thought to himself. But when he he felt her shaking the way she was, he couldn't help but put an arm around her...gently...

Kyle opened her eyes and jumped back "I'm so sorry! Could we just get out of the rain? Please?" Not only was she scared, but she was cold and wet at this point. And it was also growing darker out.

"Sure," he said cheerfully as an umbrella emerged from his cloak. He opened it and held it out to her. "Come on, let's go."

Kyle stood there. "Go where?"

"It's not likely that you'll find your friends tonight, so you might as well join me at the inn nearby." 'I might as well take care of her for now.'

"Alright, if you're sure," she replied doubtfully. Soujirou smiled again as she grasped the umbrella. He replaced his hat and led her back to the main road.

***
Alayna looked around the town, wandering if her little lost “group” had found their way here, and her mind finally grasped on to the oddest thing…there were no cars, no TV screens, no…nothing. Well there was stuff there, but it was like she was stuck in a really big live-action RPG.

“It’s so…-”

“Hey get out of my way!” a large man screamed, pushing her out of his way before she feel face first onto the ground. She laid there for a moment before she jumped up

“Hey! You get back here and fight me like a man!” she yelled, shaking her hands in the air. Before thinking the man turned around looking at her, a disgusting toothless smile on his dirty face. He was big, like she felt when he ran into her, with short black hair and disgusting eyes that could be almost called “shit brown”. His clothing looked like they had not been cleaned in almost…well never actually.

‘Eh…or maybe you shouldn't come back,’ she sweatdropped slightly.

“Oh so you want me to come back then, pretty lady?” the man laughed, walking over and making her back up.

“Um…not really,” She gulped in a deep breath of air trying not to smell him since he was making her eyes water!

“Oh, your not trying to get away from me are you?”

“I think that's exactly what the lady is trying to do,” Sanosuke said in a deep and menacing voice before he cracked his knuckles. Alayna just blinked; everything was happening to fast! ‘He can’t be real.’ she thought to herself feverishly ‘I mean I must be seeing things! Yes, that’s it! The shock of the man trying to attack me and the blow to the head before must be giving me hallucinations of Sano since well...he is majorly sexy! But then…where is Tasuki?’ she wondered, her mind working a million miles a minute and every single thought flickered on her face for a brief second before changing again.

“Hey, why don’t you butt out kid? This ain't any of your business!”

Alayna had to let her breath out from not breathing and when she did she the smell shocked her to tears.

“Geez you smell!” she shouted, even though both men seem to be looking right through her.

“I think you better step away from the lady, right now. This is your only warning,” Sanosuke threatened once more, getting ready to jump at him. The man, not really good at fighting just laughed at him and walked away, saying something about how he didn’t care to embarrassing the boy for the sake of some whore.

“Hey, you ok?” Sano asked, putting his hand on her right shoulder.

“Um…yea. I think so.” She felt a light bit of color come into her cheek as she looked up at him, smiling a bit.

“Good. Hey, where are ya staying. I’ll walk ya home. It’s not safe for a lady to be just walking around like this.”

“Actually, I’m not staying anyplace…that is, till I find my friends. I…umm…think I should be going though!” Alayna blurted before she ran off.

Sanosuke stood there for a moment before it hit him. He was following her because he saw her at the Kameya Dojo!

He sighed, ‘I was looking forward to going to the bar, too,‘ he thought to himself as he trudged through the rain to follow her.

***

For several minutes, the only sound had been the rain pattering on the laquered rice-paper umbrella. For Kyle, it was a rather uncomfortable silence.

"Souji--" Oops. She made sure she was looking at the ground in case he said something. "So...just what exactly did you mean by 'nearby'?"

"Well, normally, it would be a few miles from where I found you, buuut, I figured it was better to take a shortcut." There was just a little pride in his voice.

In fact, when she looked up, she realized that they had already arrived.

"I just realized, I don't think I can afford a room here, sir,"

"You don't have to worry about that."

Once inside, they were greeted by the manager.

"Ah, good evening, sir! And who is this lovely and rather exotic young girl with you?" the elderly man grinned a little too eagerly. Kyle blushed from both embarrassment and disgust, and turned away.

"She's a friend," replied Soujirou simply, smiling as usual.

"So I see. A single room for the two of you, then?"

Kyle chuckled. 'No, of course not. A girl sharing a room with a man? Ermm...that would definitely be awkward.'

"Sure, why not?" Soujirou took out a money pouch and handed over a few coins.

Kyle's jaw dropped. '"A friend"!? A single room!? I barely even know him!' Nevertheless, she stiffly followed the manager with Soujirou to their room. When the door was slid open, she immediately saw that two futon had been placed side-by-side in the middle of the floor. 'Oh, Lord.'

Soujirou was staring at her as she stood silent in the doorway. "Is there something wrong with this room? I can request a different one for us, if you like." He seemed rather sincere about the "us" part, and the smile on his face never faltered.

"Um....no, this room is just fine," she answered politely with a slight grin, masking her feelings of edgy-ness.

Kyle shut the entryway behind her as Soujirou opened the two doors on the opposite wall. The night breeze filled the room and sent a visible chill through the girl in her wet clothes.

"It's probably a good idea for you to go warm up in the bath after you take off that kimono," he suggested as he made a gesture toward the courtyard outside.

"But what about the rain?" she nearly whined. She was mortified at the thoughts of 1) being practically out in public with no clothes on, and, even worse, 2) being practically out in public with no clothes on...during a thunderstorm.

Soujirou stepped outside onto the covered walkway and checked. "Nope, it stopped raining for now. You go can ahead out there and I'll get you some dry clothes." With that, he left the room and disappeared down the hall.

'What have I gotten myself into!?' Kyle thought as she hurried to undress and get out to the hot spring, hoping to be in it before he returned to see her. THAT would be quite awkward.

It was almost unbearably hot, but she grabbed a towel to wear as she eased herself into the water. There was a large rock near the edge that could do as a comfortable seat while allowing her to be submersed up to her neck. She sat down there, hoping that she would finally have a chance to think.

"Hmmm..." she sighed softly while the heat of the spring enveloped her body. 'This is going to be one interesting way of life. But isn't it what I've always wanted? To experience Japan as a Japanese? And this entire Guardian thing? I don't want any of this if it means never being able to... To go back....'

"You seem thoughtful," Soujirou whispered from behind her. She froze, eyes wide with surprise.

"How long have you been there?" Kyle asked, making sure she had her towel before turning around to face him. He actually was sitting on the edge of the walkway with his back to her.

"Not long; you don't have to worry. I got your yukata for the night, by the way."

"...I appreciate it."

"You know, I don't believe you've given me your name yet, miss."

"I'm very, very sorry; I've been so distracted." After a few seconds, she answered him with the most feminine name she could think of. A name she would enjoy being called by here. "My name is Sukiko."

Soujirou smiled slightly to himself. "I'm Soujirou Seta."

"You've done a lot for me already, Mr. Seta. I'm not sure if I'll be able to repay you."

"Hm. You could start by telling me what's wrong."

"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong. I got separated from my friends, just like I told you, but they can't have..." She grimaced. "I'm sure they're fine, and that we'll find one another tomorrow."

"Alright then," he said, after clearing his throat. "Your clothes are right here when you're ready. ...I'm turning in."

The rain seemed to pick up again as soon as he had went inside. Raindrops stung like ice against her warmed skin. Was she just imagining it, or was there a vague tinge of loneliness in those words?

***
The rain was falling down like a waterfall soaking Alayna to the bone.

“Darn me for not bringing a umbrella…and where the fuck did they go?” She sighed as she kicked a small rock before.

“Eww…” She mumbled looking down pulling her shoe out of a pile of horse shit.

“Horse shit. Actually horse shit in a…well…I guess this is a city.”

She was still in the city and completely lost actually. Who knew any city that was so pretty could be as confusing as Boston, which was not really pretty at all. She sat down on a small bucket, pushing her dripping wet hair out of her face thinking.

Sano had been watching her sit there, doing nothing, for the last 30 minutes.

‘Maybe she's waiting for something? Or someone?’ His patience was running low so he jumped down

“Wha!” Alayna looked up, seeing Sansouke jump out of nowhere, making her jump back herself.

“Ok, I want to know who you are and why you were sneaking around the Kameya Dojo!”

“I…I just got lost and stumbled across it,” Alayna insisted since that WAS the truth.

“Really and Kenshin living there probably has NOTHING to do with it,” the young man said in a mocking tone.

‘Holy Jesus! How did I get into this!?’ Alayna thought as she saw Sano walk over before putting his hands on her shoulders, looking at her intensely. More intensely then she liked.

“Who are you? And where are you from?”

Since Alayna never was the smartest or dishonest person (Bleeding hearts of the world combined!) she answered his question. “My name is Alayna Colleen Madden. I live on West Washington St in Massachusetts. I live right off the forest! Really if you cut through the woods you get right to the school! My house is shaped like a…umm…well…a house! It‘s gray and I got a BIG pool near the side! I also have a white picket fence…you know…a fence. ” Her tone was a light laughing tone, but she had backed into the wall a little more than normal. She watched Sano relax a bit.

“I really didn’t need to know THAT much…” he stated, leaning on the wall before he noticed how wet she was. “Geez! Your fuckin drenched!” he whispered, pushing her into a walking mode. “Come on. Your coming home with me.” When he said that she felt her face burning up.

‘Oh boy…what have I gotten myself into now?’

***

"Oh this is great," Casey stated sarcastically, trying to hold back her tears as her throat began feeling tight. "I'm lost, alone, dirty, tired, scratched up and now it's raining." She tried to calm down before speaking to herself again. Hearing her own voice sound calm was almost enough to allow her to be ignorant to her own tears as they welled up in the corners of her eyes. "What am I supposed to do now? It's almost completely dark and I have no money or any idea where I am. God, I wish I wore more jewelry."

The light sprinkle seemed to come down harder, as if those words were their cue to become a full-fledged downpoar. Still, even as the droplets trickled down her glasses, she refused to cry. She was the one who got mad at those who cried, not the one who did when things got hard. Straightening herself and fixing her kimono, she trudeged on past a rock she'd already past three times before. Upon this realization she lazily slumped onto it, pulling her knees under her chin and wrapping her arms around them. Trying to think of the situation in a lighter sense, she thought of how it all happened.

"Of course Alayna had to go sight-seeing in the middle of nowhere. And Siobhan told her not to go to far but when she did of course the mommy-overdrive kicks in. And Kyle, I hope she waited at the path. I'd hate to think of her in this situation. To think, all this just cause I had to pee."

She tried to laugh, really she did. However, all she wanted to do was scream, and scream she did, assuming there wasn't anyone around to hear for miles. She screamed out all her fear and anger and frustration until her throat hurt. After that she simply slouched back again and caught her breath, letting the rain soak her all it wanted. She just didn't care.

Unfortunately she wasn't alone. At the sound of a young girl screaming a group of men came running to see what was going on, only to find a soaked and weary-looking girl sitting on a rock.

Too convenient.

"Hey little missy," Casey heard from behind her, startling her eyes wide open. "Nice setta lungs ya got there."

Oh yes...this is JUST what she needed now.

"Listen mister I'm really not in the mood for-" she stopped when she turned to face him. Well not him, THEM. The man who spoke was short with a dirty, white rag tied over his right eye and ratty-looking clothing. His hair was a tousled mix of grey and brown and his sick smile never left his dirt-smeared face. Behind him stood 4 other men of various sizes, though all of them looked threateningly strong and horny.

"Too bad, lil' girl," the leader-type man spoke up. "'Cause we're quite in the mood fer some young ass."

The men behind him nodded hungrily in agreement, taking a few steps toward her. Despite the futality of her actions, Casey otped to get up and back away, stupidly pinning herself to the tree she'd punched before.

The thunder crashed over head as the last of the rain clouds covered the moon and stars that were her only light in the forest. Now all that was left were the smolding tourches the men brought with them that gave their faces and even more evil bearing.

She had no choices left. She wasn't going to make this easy for them, and so she ran with ever bit of strength in her, tripping clumsily over her kimono repeatedly but keeping just ahead of them all the same. 'This is what you're known for back home, Casey. Run like the fucking wind!' she coached in her mind, feeling the pain well up in her chest but fighting on all the same.

"Fuck, dat girl's a fast one."

When she had suceeded in getting a good ways ahead of them she make the split-second decision to climb up into a tree and hide amongst the foliage. She held her breath in fear as they passed by under her and let it out once they were out of sight.

"Don't be thinkin' yer too safe, sweetie," the same rotten voice snickered from behind her. She was left with no place to flee and no way to fight back as he pushed her from the branch, her legs twisting oddly beneath her before she feel into a muddy heap on the ground. The group of men surrounded her, licking their lips as if she were some twisted buffet and they hadn't eaten in years.

Casey could feel her powers surfacing yet again, trying to protect her. But what if she left this world, leaving all her friends behind? She couldn't risk anything bad happening to them, even if it meant enduring this sadistic group. She surpressed her power and curled up into a ball hoping they'd take pity on her and leave her be with injured legs, a heavily stained kimono and bitter cold.

No such luck. While some men pinned her down the others engaged themselves in tearing her filthy but still beautiful new kimono to shreds, tossing it aside like the trash that they were. When they got to her undergarments, however, they seemed puzzled. None of the whores or victems they'd ever seen had such odd things under their clothes. Not caring for too long, on of the men simply used a knife to cut off one the straps. Casey screamed out for help through all of it until a strong hand smacked her, knocking her glasses off her face. She was certain that would leave a mark on her usually-rosey cheeks but she began screaming agan and received another smack, this time on the opposite side's cheek, smearing a mixture of dirt, rain and tears across her face. When even that wouldn't shut her up the leader gave a command to have something shoved in her mouth. Her stomach churned when she her a lecherous laugh and buckles being undone and her second brastrap was cut.

Suddenly she felt warm fluid trickle onto her chest. She cringed, thinking to to be semen, but opened her eyes slightly when she heard a body slump to the wet ground. One by one her attackers let go of her, seemingly protecting themselves from something that was going after them. She quickly looked down at what dripped onto her and found it to be blood, the same liquid pooling around her. She tried to scamper away but her legs screamed for her to cease and she become a heap on the ground again. With all of the original men down only a lone shadow stood before her. The tourches were out and lighting proved to be her only way of seeing things. A flash of gold, a bloody sword, a tall figure approaching her.

Her first instinct was to scream and she did, but not for help this time. No, she screamed out pleas for him not to hurt her. If this man took out all of the ones after her then she was done for.

The figure never ceased and in a matter of seconds she could feel its presence next to her. She sobbed loudly, curling up again as she did before. She flinched when a hand lightly touched her shoulder.

"Please....please don't..." she begged in a hoarse whisper, her throat spent from her hysterical cries.

No answer. Instead she found wet, yet still warm fabric being placed around her. It only covered her shoulders to her waist but it was better then being left in her broken bra and panties. She then felt herself being surrounded by strong arms and carried as if she were an infant. Out of shock or maybe something else, Casey let her eyes fall shut and sleep overtake her.

***

“There. That’s better,” Sano decided as he looked at her. He had given her one of his outfits and it fit…slightly. The black pants were too long, the waist too big so he had to tie it and the red shirt went far past her waist.

Alayna nodded, looking around at her surroundings. It was maybe a three room house: a kitchen, a bedroom/living room and a closet. Even though it was small and didn’t have that much furniture it smelled wonderful. The smell made her head spin and her heart race. It smelled like sweat and…well Sano! The shock of everything was coming down to this point. She was in the same room…wearing the same clothing as Sanosuke Sagara!

‘Holy Geez...I hope this isn't a dream! But what else could it be?’ she sighed, thinking it must be a dream and so…she was going to get the most out of it by God!

“What’s your name?” Alayna asked curling a piece of hair on her finger out of habit.

“Sanosuke Sagara,” he answered. “But my friends call me Sano.”

'What, no bragging about how you were Zanza, the most-feared fighter-for-hire out there?' “What should I call you then?”

Sano paused as if thinking about this for a moment or so.

“Well… I guess you can call me Sano, since you are wearing my stuff!” he laughed, though his face got a little red.

‘I wonder what your actual last-name was.' Alayna nodded while looking around and feeling strangely secure. She knew she should be looking for her friends but she she knew they weren't stupid and therefor wasn’t dreadfully concerned about them at the time.

“Ya hungry?” Sano suddenly asked since she had been staring at him.

“Sure.” She smiled, remembering that she hadn’t eaten all day. “I don’t want to be putting you out of your way or anything-” she trailed off, being cut off when none other then Kenshin himself walked in.

“Hello San…Oh?” Kenshin blinked, looking from the now blushing Sano to Alayna. “I’m sorry I didn’t know you were entertaining guests, that I did not.”

“Oh no! I’m not a guest,” Alayna corrected. “He just found me, actually.”

Kenshin blinked looking at Sano.

“No it wasn’t like that!” he tried to explain franticly, “I saw her at the dojo so I followed her!”

Kenshin’s head was going back and forth from Sano and then to Alayna, sensing there was something else going on. He thought about it for a moment before walking over to Alayna.

“What were you doing at the Kameya Dojo?” ‘She doesn’t look dangerous...but neither did Soujirou...'

“I was taking a walk and... lost track of the time and…also lost track of where I was and... I ran into your place,” ‘literally...’ “-and... then I left.”

Kenshin nodded. It sounded believable enough, thought something about her still made him a little edgy. She was giving off an almost supressed energy.

“Well that sounds like the truth, that it does but I need to talk to Sano for a moment. Would you step outside with me?” Kenshin asked as she watched the two men walk out. She sighed, standing up and looking around the room before picking some small items up to look at them.

‘I must be dreaming but…before when I fell that hurt and if that hurt I can’t be dreaming! But Lord, I just saw Sano and Kenshin!’ She laid down on Sano’s little futon on the floor, putting her hands behind her head as she desided to just wait till he got back and demand to know why she was going crazy. She waited, almost 3 hours before she feel asleep, not rousing when Sano came back in and covered her with a blanket before he laid down next to her, watching.

“Kenshin must be right. There's somethin diff'rent abo’t her. I should just keep ‘er here fer a while,” Sano mumbled with cheeks flushed from too much sake. Since she was sleeping, he pushing a curl out of her face.

“I just met 'er an I already got 'er in bed,” he said to himself with a sly smile on his face. He put his head down on his arm and closed his eyes, wrapping one arm affectionately around her.

***

Very late into the night, Soujirou awoke to the soft sound of someone crying, feeling positive that it was Sukiko. For a few minutes, he lay still, wondering what to do. He felt almost as if he had no right to comfort her, thinking back on his own experiences and misdeeds, but he could tell that she was suffering. 'Even so,'

A brief flash of lightening, and an immediate crack of thunder sent the girl deep into the covers where she began to whimper. He couldn't take it anymore.

Soujirou sat up and yanked off her blanket. Ignoring the shock on her face, he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.

"Soujirou, what are you doing!?" Kyle cried as she looked up at him. Tears were streaming down her cheeks but she couldn't pull away.

"I want to protect you, Sukiko," he whispered gently into her ear. "Every time I look at you..." His heart began to beat faster. "...I have to smile, because I'm afraid I'll cry if I don't. Seeing that empty look on your face, and listening to you cry... Knowing you're scared... I can't stand it."

"But...you don't even really know me..." Kyle whispered back, pulling him closer to her.

"If only you understood how much that doesn't matter to me."

With his fingers weaved through her soft hair, Soujirou tilted her head back, pressed his lips hard against hers, and kissed her deeply. She had a firm grip on the collar of his yukata, forcing him not to stop. For both of them, it was as if all of their heavy burdens were slowly slipping away, only to be replaced with a true feeling of content, something neither one could remember having ever