Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Freedom in the Past ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. So don't sue me. All that belongs to me are my own characters.

&flashback&

~thoughts~

" talking" (dur…lol)

*dreams*

AN: This is my first attempt at a Rurouni Kenshin fic so be nice! I don't know if all of my information is correct. So if you see anything that's not right please tell me about it. I'd really like to know. I'm also trying to update this fic every two weeks. Who knows how that's going to turn out but I'm going to try! Also please leave a review. No flames, I'll flame you back. Only constructive criticism and always things you like. Thank you! I hope you enjoy the fic.

Prologue:

"I'm sorry…" a young women, that looked to be about 20, said looking up at the big gloomy house in front of her, "You just don't need me here. I'm sick of being treated like shit. That's why I'm leaving. Good bye…"

With that the young girl took off down a dirt path leading into the woods. She was wearing a pair of skin tight flare-out blue hip hugger jeans, a black spaghetti strap tank top, and a jacket. She also had a black backpack on her back. It looked to be quite full and possibly heavy. As she walked her knee length long black hair with red tints swayed back and forth behind her. Her bangs were bouncing with every step she took.

~I feel so free. I love it! Now where to go? I've been walking for about 2 hours now aimlessly. It's about time I start thinking of a place to go. I want to get far away from here before they find out I've left again. I'm not going to get caught this time. That's probably why I decided to go through the forest. I think I'll take a short rest now.~

The young women stopped walking and looked for a place to sit and take a short rest. She saw a rock that looked like she could sit on it and not get dirt on herself. As she sat down she heard a howling noise. It seemed to send shivers down her spine and make the hair on her arms prick up. The sound was far away so she didn't really worry until the sound came again, but closer. Worry, started to enter the young woman's mind as she heard a small noise, like the rustling of leaves.

~What if the wolves picked up my scent and are on the hunt. Wait, why am I so worried? I have daggers, kodachi, and katana. I can take of them easily. Wait, I forgot my weapons back in that horrible place. There's no way I'm going back there and even if I were going to I wouldn't make it there. I guess there's only one thing to do…RUN!~

The young women stood up slowly and turned around looking down the path and took off at a dead run. She concentrated her eyes on the path and her ears for sounds behind her. She heard the breaking of twigs on the path from her own feet and behind her. She also heard the sound of panting and barking behind her. Almost as if the wolves her talking to each other, making a plan to catch their prey.

As she almost hit a low hanging tree branch she decided to keep her attention on the path in front of her. She saw a deep fog ahead. ~Oh, this is good the wolves won't be able to tell where I am if I get in that fog. But I won't be able to tell where I am either. Well it's better than being a late night dinner!~ The young woman ran into the fog and slowed a little but still kept on. She wanted to be careful as to not trip over any roots or rocks.

Just as she thought she had lost them and slowed to a walk she heard a howling somewhere to her left, her right, and behind her. She took off at another dead run. But she tripped over a root and fell to the ground. She felt pain from her head and knew she was done with when she blacked out.

------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------

The young woman opened her eyes and tried to sit up. She quickly stopped when she felt a throbbing pain in her head. "Ouch!" She said and put a hand to her head. She felt bandages, "What the fuck?"

She looked around where she was and saw rice paper walls and a small window. The sun was shining. "Well I see you're awake and such language. Tell me, how does your head feel?"

"Horrible," the young woman said looking at the person who spoke. She had long black hair and bangs. She was beautiful woman. "Who are you?"

"I could ask you the same thing. My name is Takani Megumi. I'm a doctor, how did you get these injuries? " the lady answered.

"Well, I was in the woods and I was being chased by wolves. I saw this fog and I thought maybe if I ran into it they wouldn't be able to catch me as fast. I was wrong because they still came after me. I was running and I tripped over a tree root and I must have hit my head on a rock or something. Oh, and my name is Hitotsu Michiko," she answered Megumi's question.

"Wait here while I get something to take the pain away from your injuries," with that Megumi left Michiko alone in the room.

As soon as Megumi left four other people entered the room. One was a young boy, about 9 or 10, a young man maybe his late teens or early twenties, another girl the same as the young man, and another man maybe in his late 20's.

"Hi," said the girl. She had long midnight blue hair and she was wearing a purple and pink kimono with a yellow obi. "My name is Kaoru! This is my home we've been taking care of you since we found you injured in the forest. I hope you feel better soon! Oh and this is Yahiko," she point to the boy. He had spiky black hair and was wearing a yellow gi with green hakama. "And this is Sanosuke," She said pointing the young man that looked about the same age as her. He had spiky dark brown hair and was wearing white. He had the symbol for bad on the back of his shirt. "And this is Kenshin," she said pointing towards the oldest of them all. He was different, his hair was long and red. He also wore a pink gi with white hakama. "I hope you like your stay here. We're all really nice! And if you need anything just ask. We'd be happy to help you out!

"Thanks a lot for taking care of me. I really appreciate it. My name is Michiko and it's nice to meet all of you. I don't think this will keep me down for long though, I've had much worse injuries than just a bump on the head. Oh, and could you umm, tell me where I am. Like what city or whatever?" Michiko asked them with a small smile.

"You're in Tokyo at the Kamiya Kashin Dojo," Sanosuke answered Michiko's question, "You must have some kind of memory loss as to where you were when you hit your head."

"Yeah, and what's the date?" Michiko asked.

~How did I end up in Japan? I was in the United States. Maybe these people are just trying to pull my leg? No, this is definitely Japanese scenery. Wait, this is what Japanese homes were like in the 1800's. Maybe I'm in a home where they like to keep things traditional. Yeah, that must be it…~ Michiko thought.

"It's June 7th, 1887," Yahiko told Michiko.

~Oh god! I did not just hear that…there's no way in hell that it can be June 7th, 1887. It's impossible because it was 2005 the last time I was awake. This must be some kind of weird punishment those bastards back at that damned fucking house came up with for me. No, there would be terrible pain and they wouldn't come up with something like this. It's far too complicated for their little minds. This is giving me a head ache, well a bigger one. I'll ponder this later…~ Michiko thought.

"Are you alright Michiko-dono?" Kenshin asked as he saw her pale.

"I'm fine Kenshin. And please just call me Michiko," Michiko told Kenshin as Megumi entered the room with a tray with a steaming pot on it.

"What is everybody doing in here? And so noisy! The poor thing must have a head ache the size of Mount Fuji and here you all are talking loudly. She needs her rest and you guys are in here making her use all of her energy. Especially you Kenshin, of all the people YOU should have know better than this. You know how bad her injuries were, you're the one who found her in the forest outside of the city. I'm ashamed of all of you!" Megumi scolded everybody and they all looked down at the floor.

"It's fine! Really Megumi, I've had far worse injuries than this. Besides, I liked their company. It brought my spirits up quite a bit. What is that you have there?" Michiko asked Megumi referring to the steaming pot she had on the tray she was carrying.

"I've made you some herbal tea that will help you with the pain. You did quite a job on yourself you know. You lost a lot of blood, that's probably why you look so pale. You're quite lucky that Kenshin found you when he did. Otherwise you probably would have died from blood loss," Megumi answered Michiko while pouring her some tea, "This tea has a bitter taste and it will make you drowsy. It will take the pain away though. You're recovering really fast and should be fine to get out of bed in a few days. Until then you need bed rest. So everybody out!"

Michiko watched as everybody said their goodbyes and left the room. Megumi then handed her the cup of tea. Michiko downed all the tea at once and made a sour face "This stuff tastes like shit!" Michiko exclaimed and handed the cup back to Megumi.

"Again with the language! And I told you that it didn't taste good so don't complain, " Megumi said putting everything on the tray. "You should rest now. Just call if you need anything," Megumi picked the tray up and left the room. Shortly after Michiko fell into a deep sleep.

----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------

* "My dear what have I told you about running away?" a woman's voice said in a sickly sweet tone was heard in the total darkness. "Oh how you're going to be punished…"

"N-no…" Michiko said shakily, "P-please don't…"

"Michiko, you know the consequences of your actions. Surely you remember the last time you ran away. We thought you would have learned from that punishment not to run away again. I swear this time you'll be punished much, much worse," sickly sweet voice told Michiko with a hint of malevolence.

Michiko looked to where the voice was coming from. She saw a dark form coming closer to her. She tried to step back but felt the coldness of stone on her back. "P-please, don't hurt me. Please!" Michiko pleaded to the woman.

"Are you arguing with your keeper?!" a cold voice that clearly belonged to a man was heard throughout the darkness. It pierced the seemingly lifeless silence like a knife. "You know you are to obey your keeper! You shall be punished!"

"No, please don't…" Michiko pleaded but knew it was helpless. She slid down the wall as a tear slid down her cheek. She looked up into the darkness and now instead of seeing two shadowy figures she saw two. They were creeping closer and closer. Tears silently slid down her cheeks with every step they took closer to her small trembling form.

Looking up into the darkness she saw that the two figures had stopped coming closer to her. She watched with terror in her emerald green eyes as the smaller of the two forms stepped closer to herself than the other.

"Please, let me punish her first. She has ran away and disobeyed me far too much…" the sickly sweet voice came from just in front of her. Michiko saw the outline of a thin face and two auburn eyes looking at her. When she made contact with those eyes it seemed that her whole body froze and that she couldn't move at all.

Michiko watched as the woman stepped closer to her and extend her arm out. She felt a cold clammy hand touch her face. She also felt the tips of long sharp finger nails just touching her skin.

"I'll show you my dear for disobeying me!" the sickly sweet voice turned into one of cold hatred and menace as those sharp pointed nails dug deep into Michiko's face.

------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------

Michiko screamed and sat up quickly. She was panting trying to get air into her lungs. She heard hurried footsteps heading for her room.

"Michiko-dono! Are you alright?!" Kenshin asked sliding the shoji door open and running into the room. He looked down at her. He saw that she was very disgruntled and in a cold sweat. Everybody else also came running in the room shortly after he had arrived. "Michiko-dono? Are you alright?" Kenshin repeated when she didn't answer him after a few moments.

"I'm fine," Michiko told him and just to reassure him she continued, "Honestly, I'm fine."

"Then why did you scream?" Yahiko asked, "I thought you were being murdered or something. Are you sure you're alright. Why did you scream anyways?"

"Oh…I just had a nightmare. I'm alright now, really. You don't have to worry about me. I'm perfectly under control now," Michiko told him with a smile.

"What kind of nightmare?" Yahiko asked curiously.

"Well uh…I'd really rather not talk about it…" Michiko said looking down. "You know what guys? I'm feeling a lot better and I'd really like to get out of this bed. Maybe get some fresh air. That always does you some good. Fresh air!" Michiko tried to change the subject. She looked around the room and saw that it wasn't working. Then she remembered about her back pack. "Hey, did you find a black bag when you found me Kenshin? If you did I'd really like to have that back…"

"Huh? Oh yes I did. I gave it to Kaoru-dono. I don't know where she put it though," Kenshin told Michiko, "Why do you want it right now anyways?"

"Before I go out I'd like to change out of these clothes. Their dirty and I want to wear something a little more clean. And if it's possible I'd like to take a bath…" Michiko said with a smile.

"Oh, of coarse you can take a bath!" Kaoru exclaimed, "Kenshin do you think you can go start the fire? I'm sure she wants her bath hot." Kenshin nodded and left to start the fire to heat the water for the bath. "Oh, just wait a minute while I go get your bag. It shouldn't take but a minute."

Michiko listened as Kaoru left the room quickly to get her bags. ~I can't believe this. I'm here in Japan in the late 1800's. This is so weird I just don't know what to do. I can't just free load off from Kaoru. I'm going to have to get a job and pay her back for everything. I wonder what kind of job I can get. I'm sure they have labor work around here. I'm so happy I don't ever have to worry about those bastards trying to 'punish' me ever again. I'm actually free here. That is when I'm awake. Such nightmares are going to haunt my whenever I shut my eyes…~

"Here's your bag Michiko. Don't worry I didn't let anybody go through it. If anything I know how a girl likes her privacy and how some people can be nosey!" Kaoru directed her gaze over to Sanosuke and Yahiko at this.

"Hey! What are you talking about Missy? I'd never do a thing like that!" Sanosuke exclaimed.

"But Sano, you're the one who said that she probably has some nice 'merchandise' in that bag of hers. And you tried to take it away from her!" Yahiko said.

"You little runt! You weren't supposed to tell anybody that! That was a guy thing and here you are blabbing it out in a room of girls. You got a lot learning to do Yahiko…" Sanosuke said putting a hand to his forehead and sighing.

"Boys," Kaoru said and handed Michiko her bag, "Here's your bag. Let me show you the way to the bath house. Do you need help getting up?"

"Nah, I'm fine I can manage by myself," Michiko said and stood up with ease, "My head doesn't even hurt anymore. I think that's mostly because of Megumi's medicine. I just hope that it doesn't wear off soon…"

"If anything that medicine wore off a while ago. All it really does is make you really sleepy and numbs the pain before that. It only lasts until the time you fall asleep. But I guess you're a fast healer or you can take a lot of pain," Megumi said.

"Oh, well like I said I've had far worse injuries than this that were much more painful. So this doesn't really phase me," Michiko said putting one of the straps of her bag over her shoulder, "Well lead the way to the bath house Kaoru!"

"Okay, just follow me!" Kaoru said and led Michiko out the door. "Tell me where did you come across such clothing? It seems so inappropriate…" Kaoru asked her, "I mean Sanosuke wouldn't stop looking at you. Well, he usually does that to a lot of girls but I think a lot of it had to do with your choice of clothing."

"Well everybody wears clothes like this where I'm from. And if you think this is inappropriate you should see some of the other clothes I have. So are you and Sanosuke a couple or something?" Michiko asked changing the subject from her clothes.

"What?! Are you crazy? Me and Sanosuke? That's not going to happen. He's just one of our friends. And if anything I think it would be him and Megumi. Although they have their differences, I think they go good together," Kaoru said thoughtfully.

"Oh, so it must be you and Kenshin," a smirk appeared on Michiko's face, "So, how long you two been together?"

"There is nothing between me and Kenshin either!" Kaoru said with a blush.

"I see, so you like him though. This is going to be fun. I'm going to have to find a way to get you and Kenshin together. And also Sanosuke and Megumi. This is going to be really fun. How about you and me play matchmaker with Sanosuke and Megumi. I know we can do it. They just need a little push," Michiko said to Kaoru, "And I'll help you get Kenshin to never want to leave. What do you say?"

"I don't know…do you really think you can get Kenshin to love me as much as I love him? And with Sano and Megumi, I think they do need a little push to get them going. I'm in!" Kaoru said with a big smile.

"Don't worry about anything. If anything I can do this!" Michiko said with confidence.

"Okay well here's the bath house. Everything is inside, help yourself to anything you need. We'll continue this little conversation later," Kaoru said and left Michiko in front of the bath house.

Michiko just smile and walked into the bath house. ~This is great! I feel so good. I can't wait for me and Kaoru's plans to take off. This is going to be the best ever. I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life. I don't think things can get any better than this!~