Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ TIMELESS ❯ Future meets past ( Chapter 2 )

TIMELESS

Standard Disclaimers Apply

WARNING: Major OOCness

***CHAPTER 2***

When she awoke, she felt dizzy and weak, and not sure where she was. She opened her eyes to see blue sky overhead.

"Ouch! What happened?" she whispered, clutching her head.

It took several minutes before she could stop her head and body from spinning as she squint against the sunlight to try to see where she was. Moments before, she was in her room staring at the mirror, but now she seemed to be standing on the grass under a tree in a pretty countryside.

Kaoru began surveying her surroundings. The landscape was beautiful. Not in a spectacular, breathtaking way, but in a gentle and peaceful way. The rippling hills were bathed in a palette of springtime greens, all swaying in the breeze. Occasional islands of trees broke the monotony of farm fields.

"I must be dreaming. If I close my eyes and count to ten, I will wake up and I will be back in my room," she said, then proceeded to count. But when she opened her eyes, she was still there, as well as the sunlight, and she was still not in her room.

"Oh my God!," she said aloud. "Where the heck am I?" She looked about her. "Am I dead or is this still Japan?"

She took a deep and calming breath, and began walking. "This must be the worst day of my life," she muttered.

The heel of her Italian sandal glanced off an especially large chunk of rock. She stumbled and swore. "Life's such a bitch."

She sniffed and swiped a hand beneath her nose, gritting her teeth against the urge to cry. If she started to cry over this, if she let the dam crack and the tears start to flow, she'd likely drown. And she would ruin her Issey Miyake mascara.

Life would go on, she told herself grimly, beating back the tears with her lashes. Life would go on, for better or worse, whether Mamoru left her and marry another or she was stuck in this Godforsaken place.

She had endured too much in her life to let a little thing like this break her, bodily or otherwise. This was nothing in comparison. Still, she couldn't seem to keep a sheen of tears from glossing over her eyes. It was life's little insults heaped one on top of another that tended to get to her. The odd major catastrophe - like getting dumped by the man she had pledged to love until death? Hell no. She was a fighter. All she had to do was keep putting one foot in front of the other. What she stepped in along the way couldn't matter. She either had to move on or curl up in a big ball of misery and die.

Kaoru knew that gossip will run rampant about her outrageous behavior. Her poor parents must be writhing in their graves by now.

"You might as well forget about him, Kaoru. He probably always leave the toilet seat up. You know that's a habit that you purely hate. And besides, in a few years he will be bald and yowling in misery when he realized he made the biggest mistake of his life by dumping you," she said trying to console herself, smiling a tight, uneasy smile.

She had made a fool of herself in the pursuit of a man. A latent but desperate envy of other women with their suitors had moved her to abandon all good sense when a handsome man had at last smiled at her. The thought of being loved by Mamoru had made her proud, and that false pride had brought her lower than she had ever thought possible. She would never make that mistake again.

The road was the worst she'd ever seen. Kaoru muttered a curse under her breath and tried to limp a little faster. She didn't know where she was and how she got here. She doubted she would get much in the way of help here.

"Look on the bright side, honey," she said, tightly clutching her Gucci purse. "At least you wouldn't see Mamoru's despicable face or the jeering faces of other people."

She was not afraid of the difficulties that laid before her. However, with all honesty, she still shivered with the thought of living the rest of her life in the absence of love.

How could one survive, she wondered with renewed trembling, when one no longer believed in love? It was as if a great door had slammed shut inside her, and nothing of light or gaiety or sudden joy would ever escape from behind it.

She snagged back a handful of wind-tossed black hair with her free hand and tucked it behind her ear and kept on walking, gravel biting into the bottoms of her feet through the thin soles of her sandals.

She groaned as she looked down at her white dress. It was filthy. She ruined her favorite Gianni Versace dress!

Kaoru suddenly gasp as four men dressed like samurais, materialized out of nowhere blocking her path.

"Well, well, what have we here?" said the first man leering.

She stiffened and her blue eyes turned stormy as she carefully studied each face. Kaoru wrinkled her nose. The men smelled of sweat and liquor. She could feel their breath on her as their curious fingers reached out to pluck at her dress. She fought back waves of panic.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Keep away from me!" Kaoru rasped.

One of the men eagerly licked his lips, a hot glitter in his own eyes that boded ill as he tried to lift the hem of her dress. "We just wanted to see what's beneath those pretty dress of yours."

"You won't find anything interesting there. But you'll find my fist on your face if you don't leave me alone," Kaoru said threateningly.

The men just laughed at her. Kaoru trembled in her rage. This was hardly funny, she was dead serious.

"I don't know what you're all trying to accomplish dressed like Oda Nobunaga reincarnated. But Akira Kurosawa has already finished filming the `Seven Samurai,' and you're all too late for the auditioning, not that you're all movie star material."

The men looked confused for they don't know who Akira Kurosawa was or what a movie star is.

"Don't touch me you disgusting excuse for a man!" she snapped, her nostrils flared in outrage as the second man, tried to touch her hair.

The nerve of this men! She was trembling inside, but she'd be damned if she let this maniacs see they'd succeeded in upsetting her!

The second man laughed. "You're a feisty one, aren't you?" He then narrowed his eyes and walked over to Kaoru and took her chin in his big hand, holding her so tightly that she could hardly move. He lowered his head so that he was looking straight into her eyes. "You should be careful not to say things like that to a man. It would be sad to get your pretty face broken by someone who is not as nice as me."

"I'll tell you what," he whispered hoarsely. "I'll make you a bet. I throw a dice. Odd, you go free. Even, you go with us and have some fun."

She shook her head so hard that the man let go. "A proud one," he said. "I like that." He took a dice out of his gi and waved it under her nose. "Do we have a bet?"

"I'll tell you what, you can take your dice and shove it up your ass!" Kaoru shouted. "Do you think me a total innocent, too naïve to understand what you're all implying? On the contrary, I've met your kind before! They're a dozen back in Tokyo!" she scoffed, blue eyes blazing. "Now, if you would be so kind, I would prefer that you return to wherever asylum you came from and leave me alone - at once! And take your nasty little swords and your innuendos with you!"

Anger flashed across the sallowness of his face. "Be warned, my sweet," he snarled. "There is no one to help you now. Such rebelliousness will not be tolerated here."

Kaoru backed away from them slowly, never taking her eyes off them. Their drunken state might gave her the edge in quickness, but it definitely gave them an edge in the danger category. Whatever inhibitions they might have normally regarding use of force had been washed away by booze. They were big men - not just heavy, but big-framed. She would have been a fool to think there wasn't physical strength beneath the flab.

The third man shuffled another step closer, lust brought color to his fleshy face. "No one's coming, but I'm gonna," he snickered, reaching a hand between his legs and cupping himself suggestively.

Kaoru took another step backward. She swallowed hard at her fear. She had learned at an early age to think on her feet and save her own ass. In her experience, white knights didn't charge in for a last-second rescue. A woman was on her own in this world, and she either saved herself or became a victim.

The fourth man had a glazed look in his eyes. Hormones and sake had fogged what little common sense he had. "Take off your dress," he ordered. "I want to see your breast."

In your dreams, jerk. She slanted him a smile. "What's your hurry? We've got all the time in the world."

"Yeah?" His eyes gleamed with the glassy light of intoxication and carnal desire. He suddenly reached up with the intention of taking hold of one of those full breasts.

Kaoru dodged his touch and swung her purse hard on his face. The first man lunged at her and she brought her knee up with all the force she could muster, visualizing ramming his balls all the way up to his throat. She connected with a solid blow, and the man's breath left him in a gust as he doubled over, clutching himself.

"You bitch!" he croaked. "You fucking bitch!" he sputtered, spittle spraying, his voice strangled, his face flushing burgundy. He glared at her through bulging, tear-filled eyes and tried to lunge at her, but he couldn't straighten and wouldn't let go of himself. "I'll kill you for this!"

The second man suddenly attacked her and Kaoru smashed her fist in his face, breaking his nose.

"Drat! I spent a fortune on these nails!" She examined the broken fingernail, running her thumb over its jagged edge. She mentally called the man every foul name she could think of and few she made up on the spot. She went to an expensive salon in Tokyo to put on a triple coat of Hot Pink. Now the whole effect was ruined.

The third man stepped toward her, Kaoru kicked him hard and he staggered back a step, roaring in outrage.

"Take that you overgrown knuckle-heads! If you think I'm a poor, defenseless woman, you're all sadly mistaken," she said haughtily.

"Geez! This place must be teeming with psychos and samurai-wannabes," she sniffed disdainfully. "Just my luck!"

She didn't noticed one of the men sneaking up on her. He suddenly grabbed her and put a sword on her neck.

"If you want to see another day, you better cooperate with us, my lovely," he whispered tightening his hold on her. "Why don't we teach this tigress a little lesson she will never forget?," the man said to his companions. His comrades agreed heartily.

Suddenly a cold voice interrupted them. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." They all turned at once and saw a red-haired, cross-scarred young man, amber eyes flashing with his sword drawn looking like the devil himself.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

THANKS A LOT TO MY READERS AND REVIEWERS! You've got me inspired. Chibi-angel, suggested that I should not use too many foreign labels, since Japanese are known for their nationalistic tastes. However, I'm not that familiar with Japanese designers. But if you all want me to change the brand names here, I'll gladly do so. I'll have to research them, though. I'm trying to use foreign labels, since they're well-known around the world. Pls. suggestions, comments, I would love to hear them.

***Issey Miyake was suggested by Chibi-angel. Thanks Chibi!

Hartshorne - Thanks for harassing me. ::hehehe:: I hope you like this chappie.

Chibi-angel -Thanks for pre-reading my fic. I'm sorry for the extra burden, since you must be very busy.