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A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfic written by Nadejda Neklioudova. Special thanks to my very good friend ‘Seijyuroh’ for ideas for this story.
All existing Rurouni Kenshin characters (such as Hiko Seijuro) copyright Watsuki Nobuhiro. I’m only borrowing the characters, don’t sue me please... the character Yuri
created by me, Nadejda Neklioudova.Note: the name "Yuri" means "Lily" in Japanese.
Another Note: my writing style is usually for one-scene 'feeling' fics, I'm not used to writing stories with real plots...besides the basic idea wasn't even mine, it was Seijyuroh's, I'm just writing what he suggested, and putting my own little spin on it. The character and general plot are my idea, but Seijyuroh helped finalize it a bit. But if this sounds really weird...email me and tell me so. :P And yes I am aware that I am constantly switching word tenses from present to past...Timeframe: 25 years before the RurouniKenshin storyline now. (Hiko Seijuro is eighteen at the moment, has just finished his HitenMitsurugiRyu training, of course killing his master in the process)
Part 2 – Troubled Memories
ROUGH DRAFT
Author’s Note: I’m giving Yuri a last name.. Yukino. If I follow the SailorMoon name patterns, her whole name should mean "Snow lily" or "Lily of Snow", right? ^.^;;
Written January 30, 1999
"No, no.. Stop!" Yuri screamed in her dream, remembering the assassins chasing her...finding her...taunting her...hurting her... reliving the events of the past night.
"No!..." her voice was a desperate scream.
Hiko Seijuro turned and looked at the sleeping girl. She was safe, in his house in the woods of Kyoto. But she still looked tortured, as if reliving a nightmare. He wanted to wake her up and tell her she is safe, but sighed and decided not to. He hated himself immediately, for the girl screamed again in her sleep. With a sigh, he focused on looking through the window at the rising sun.
I her dream, Yuri saw the young man in the white manto confront her pursuers. Everything seemed to slow down, Yuri had trouble focusing on what she was seeing... the last thing she saw before she collapsed was the assassin falling onto the ground.
Yuri gasped and woke up, wondering where she was.
She found herself lying on a futon, and directly above her was the ceiling of a house. Judging by the light creeping into the room, it was morning. She immediately sat up, only to see that young man in the manto sitting on the big window of the small house she was in. He was looking outside, sheathed sword resting on his shoulder. He was tall and strong for a man who looked hardly older than herself, though that manto looked a bit too big for him, Yuri thought with a smile. His long dark-green hair was tied back in a low ponytail, though leaving two thick strands of long hair on either side of his handsome face.
"Where am I and who are you?" Yuri demanded, perhaps too harshly, after a minute’s hesitation.
"There’s food and water right there if you want it..." the young man said quietly, and continued gazing outside.
"Who are you?" Yuri repeated, not glancing at the food next to the futon.
"Does it matter?" he replied just as monotonously.
"Yes!" Yuri blurted out, ashamed of herself the next second. "Well, I mean..."
"Hiko Seijuro. Thirteenth inheritor of HitenMitsurugiRyu." The man said, unmoving.
"I’m Yukino Yuri. Nobody, I guess." Yuri said shyly.
"Well, you were definitely somebody to those assassins who were chasing you last night." Seijuro pointed out, finally turning to her and looking straight in her blue eyes. "Who are you and why were you pursued?"
"The daughter of Yukino Aki." Yuri whispered after an awkward pause, staring at the floor. "He sent the assassins after me."
Seijuro showed slight interest. "Why?"
"Why are you questioning me?" Yuri snapped.
"I’m sorry. Just wondering why a pretty girl like you would be wanted dead by her own father." Seijuro said. "By the way, your food is getting cold."
"All right, I see your point!" Yuri said angrily. She did not like to be questioned about her father. He had hurt her enough in her lifetime... "And who are you and why did you save me?"
"You reminded me of someone...that’s all." Seijuro quickly turned his head back to looking outside. Too quickly, Yuri thought.
She got up and sat next to Seijuro, only now noticing that the sword-cut on her arm was now bandaged. However, there was still blood from the previous fight on Seijuro’s shoulder, seeping through the white manto, and he made no sign of noticing it.
"My god, you’re hurt!" Yuri said, concern in her voice. "You didn’t have to do that for me..."
"Yes I did. You were in trouble." Seijuro said, a bit more feeling creeping into his words. He closed his eyes.
"Tell me..." Yuri said, sitting next to him. "Who did I remind you of?"
‘Who is this girl?’ Seijuro thought, glancing at Yuri sitting next to him. ‘Why does she trust me enough to even talk to me? All I did was rescue her... why should I tell her anything...’
But he said aloud with a sad smile creeping over his face, "My mother. She was killed by assassins – like the ones that chased you." His eyes remained closed.
Yuri didn’t quite know how to respond to that. The handsome swordsman that seemed just like a sword, cold without feeling only a minute ago, now seemed sad and even vulnerable. She sighed – she hated hurting people, making them remember something they don’t want to. Even ones she barely knew. She said quietly "I’m sorry."
Seijuro smiled sadly and opened his eyes, steeling himself again. ‘What am I doing?’ he thought to himself. ‘It’s in the past...long past...she’s dead. No, Seijuro, stop it. You’re a swordsman. You can’t be so weak.’ He sighed, and wondered again, ‘who is this girl?’
Yuri looked at Seijuro, intent on making him turn and look her. After a minute of resisting, turn he did, his dark-green eyes finally meeting her blue ones. ‘Whoever Yuri is, she is beautiful,’ Seijuro thought, though his appearance didn’t show it.
However, after her goal was achieved and Yuri had Seijuro’s attention, she couldn’t find anything to say. ‘Why am I being so trusting?’ she wondered to herself. After a minute’s hesitation, she lowered her eyes from Seijuro’s handsome face to the floor, smiled, and said, "I have to do something about that wound of yours. Where are the water and the bandages around here?"
Seijuro forced a chuckle. "Why do you care so much?"
Yuri stood up and stared at him. "Silly! If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead! I owe you. Besides, you’re hurt. Even if you aren’t admitting it." She looked around the room busily. "Now where is the water and bandages?"
Seijuro sighed and said, "The bandages are in the cupboard up there," he pointed to a dark corner of the room. "However, there’s no water. There is lots down at the stream, though."
"All right, I’ll go get it," Yuri said. She grabbed a bucket off the floor, and walked out the door of the small house, leaving Seijuro bewildered.
Seijuro watched the empty doorway long ater Yuri was gone, getting his thoughts together. He rescued this girl just yesterday, he barely knows anything about her, but trusts her already? This isn't what his master taught him at all! he thought. But his master is not here, and he has to make his own decisions about who to trust...
There was something special about that girl, he just didn't want to realize it yet...
On to Part 3