DISCLAIMER!: Don't own 'em, don't want to... please don't sue!

Title: Protecting your happiness: Chapter 3
Author: Akari (¨È¥[§Q)
Translation from Chinese into English by: bread@bread.freeservers.com

RK Manga spoiler 18 and above.

	Darkness fell, and everybody in the Hatanaka family were fast
asleep. The entire house was enshrouded in darkness... but if one may have a
sharper eye, a pale violet light could be seen emitting from within Kurama's
room. That's right, it's our Jaganshi Hiei at work with his jagan. He sat
beside the sound asleep Kurama quietly, both of their eyes shut except for
the jagan, opened and carefully gazing at Kurama. And yes, Kurama and Hiei
had begun Mission Find The Lost Girl.

	They searched in Kurama's dreams for hours, but could not for one
moment find the slightest shadow of the girl. Hiei got restless and started
to nag at Kurama.
	"Is that girl coming or not? Or could it have been just your
imagination, that there isn't such a girl at all?"
	"No! There IS a girl! It can't be an illusion... this I can swear
by." Kurama replied decidedly.
	"Then how come we can't find her after so long? If she's really
here, there's no reason why my jagan couldn't feel it at all."
	"Maybe she's just not around yet. Have patience!"
	While our two youkais continued to bicker among themselves, all of
a sudden, a wharf of light perfume drifted into their direction.
	"Isn't this the smell of white plums? Hiei, she's here! She always
has the smell of white plums on her!" Kurama gave an excited shout.
	Immediately, Hiei broadened the search area with his jagan. Not a
while longer, he found the shadow of a girl in a far distance. All around
her were thick layers of fogs, just like what Kurama had previously told
him. Hiei confirmed that this was the person Kurama was looking for, and
thereafter brought Kurama towards the location his jagan had stated.

	The girl was turning around in all directions, always shouting,
"Kenshin! Kenshin!" Suddenly, she could sense somebody approaching her
direction. Turning around for a look, she was petrified to chance upon the
appearance of both Kurama and Hiei! Before she could prepare to flee, she
felt a strange sensation and discovered that she could not will her body to
move at all.
	"Give it up! You won't be able to move no matter how much you
struggle." Hiei blandly informed her.
	"Hiei, what did you do to her??" Kurama asked nervously, fearing
much that Hiei would hurt the girl.
	"Don't worry, I merely used my jagan to control her. This way, we
won't harm her, and we won't have to be afraid of her running away." Hiei
explained, then turned to the girl. "You don't have to be afraid, we won't
harm you whatsoever. We only want to talk. If you promise not to run, I'll
release you."
	The girl blinked for a while to demonstrate her positive answer,
thus Hiei released the hold of his jagan.

	"Who are you?" The girl asked anxiously, fear welling in her heart
despite Hiei having told her about their non-antagonistic approaches. She
was, in actual fact, much afraid of the Hiei who had controlled her. Could
he be a youkai?
	"Don't be scared, we really mean no harm. My name is Kurama, he's
Hiei. We're here to help."
	And thus, Kurama proceeded to recount the entire two week's tale to
the girl.

	"I'm really very sorry, to have been of so much trouble. Actually I
didn't intend it to be this way, but I really have no idea what happened. My
name is Yukishiro Tomoe, and after marriage my family name became Himura. I
came from Kyoto." She said, wondering why Kurama's smile resembled her
husband so much. But all for the better, for it made Tomoe have a boundless
sense of security, feeling that he was trustworthy. Tomoe then proceeded to
tell her tale of roaming her husband's dreams after her death, until when
she roamed into Kurama's dream, with the most meticulous details.

	"Um..." After listening to her tale, Kurama pondered for a while,
then asked, "... so which century do you come from?"
	"I was born in 1846, and died in 1864."
	"1846? More than a century ago? Can she be..." Hiei questioned
suspiciously.
	"Right, exactly within my predictions, she came from the past."
Kurama explained. "When she met with the strong winds and fainted, she
actually lapsed into a time zone territory. Both dreams and time territories
lie on the same plane, and time territories are always on the move due to
many reasons, never having a fixed position, and Tomoe's entrance into one
is a pretty common thing."
	"You mean I'm now in a different time altogether? No wonder I saw
so many weird things when I was wandering around today. But why did I wake
up from that wind blast straightaway into your dream realm? YA! Can you
possibly be my husband's reincarnation?"
	"No, that's not possible, because by the year you died I was already
thousands of years old."
	"Thousands of years? Just who are you..."
	"This can wait till later. Anyway, you probably came into my dreams
because of the separation of the dimension boundaries recently! Right now we
need to find a way to send you back."
	"I heard the reikai has a time portal, used for going back or forth
in time to do investigations." Hiei said. "Unfortunately, Koenma's out with
his father, and we don't know when he's coming back."
	"Then what should I do? Does it mean I can't go back anymore?"
Tomoe's heart wrenched at the thought that she would never be able to see
Kenshin again.
	"No, you WILL be able to reunite with your husband. But we'll need
to wait for a while. Once Koenma comes back, I'll bring you to see him. You
can rest assured!" Kurama could not bear to see Tomoe feeling hurt, and
quickly offered reassurance. "And during this period of time, why don't you
stay in my house?"
	"Is... isn't that a little inconvenient?"
	"Not really, since you're a homeless spirit to begin with. If you
should wander around just like that, what if you meet up with some evil
spirit and they should bully you? That would mean more inconvenience... I
still think it's safer if you stay by my side. Be... Because I... I'll give
you protection." Kurama finished, and blushed a bright red.
	"That's right, Kurama's the famous Extremely Evil Bandit of the
Makai! Only he bullies people, no one dares to bully him. If you stay by his
side it'll be veeeeeeeeeery safe. Besides, if you don't let him protect you,
he's going to spend more foodless, sleepless nights and days." Hiei smiled,
evilly stating his point.
	"Extremely... evil... bandit??" Tomoe was alarmed upon hearing the
title.
	"Stupid Hiei! Don't talk nonsense!" Kurama slammed a hand over
Hiei's mouth. "Tomoe, please don't misunderstand! That was in my past life.
I've turned over a new leaf, I no longer do the horrible things a bandit
would do. Please believe me!"
	"Mmmm~~~mmmmmMMmmmM~~~~~~~~~~~~~~mmMM! MMMMUMMM!!!" The remaining
one minute were filled up by Hiei's struggling noises. While Kurama
continued staring in Tomoe's direction, anxiously anticipating her answer,
fearing that she would despise him. Who would have thought, Tomoe revealed
a smile to Kurama so slight that one may only notice under a microscope.
	"I believe you. I don't know why, but seeing you, there's a warm
sensation in me, I really don't think you will hurt me."
	"Thank you!" Kurama revealed a touched smile to Tomoe.

	Thus, Tomoe decided to stay in Kurama's house.

	In Kurama's bedroom...

	"Tomoe, from today onwards, you'll sleep here!" Kurama told Tomoe
while making up the bed.
	"But if I sleep on your bed, where will you sleep?"
	"I can just sleep on the floor. This is the grace a man should
have."
	"To have inconvenienced you, but thank you all the same."
	"Good night."
	"Good night."

	And the time passed to midnight three o'clock. Kurama was already
sound into sleep, but he was suddenly awakened by a weak crying sound.
Raising his eyes to the window, he found Tomoe gazing out at the streets,
quietly sobbing away.
	Kurama gently came closer, asking, "Why are you crying?"
	"Ah! I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"
	"It's all right. Why the sudden weeping? Thinking about your husband
again?"
	"Yes. I miss you very much. I haven't met him for so long, I wonder
if he remembers me? I'm afraid he'll meet someone new and shift his
affection. Although I know I'm but a spirit, not being able to stay with him
for a long period of time and that he would one day find the girl to settle
down with her for the rest of his life and forget about me. This is
something very normal. but I always fear the arrival of this day. I really
love Kenshin very much!" Tomoe cried, allowing her tears to fall down
freely.
	Her words made Kurama's heart ache. One; because he found Tomoe very
pitiful, two; he knew that no matter what he would never be able to replace
Kenshin's place in Tomoe's heart. Although understanding that nothing would
come out of his relationship with Tomoe, he still, regardless, loved Tomoe
the way he did.
	And seeing the Tomoe crying so painfully, Kurama's heart went out
for her. Unknowingly, he reached out to hold Tomoe in his embrace, softly
stroking her black hair, comforting her, "Don't worry! If your husband
really loves you, no matter what happene, no matter how far or how long the
separation, he will never shift his affection. And, I promise you, I will
bring you back to your husband."
	Tomoe lifted her head, gazing at Kurama with gratitude.
	"Okay. Thank you very much! I promise you too, I will never cry
again in the future." Tomoe gave Kurama a, until now, smile that no one but
Kenshin had seen.
	*She's so lovely...* Kurama thought to himself. *And just for this
smile of yours, even if I'm not able to be together with you, I, Kurama will
help you get back your happiness, no matter what price I have to pay.* He
silently decided.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Up next: Koenma finally returns! But...
Next episode: Chapter 4... "Kurama's attack!!"

END TRANSLATION

19/11/98