From: Tatsuko Hi There! ^_^ My muse has been working overtime lately, so here's yet another chapter of my fic! ^_^ (I guess she's making up for making me write the last chapter while I was sick, hm?) Thank you again to those who commented on Chapter 2! ^_^ It's much appreciated, and frankly I'm flattered! Oh, and BTW, I'm feeling better now guys. (Don't know if that means this chapter turned out any better than the previous one though, we'll just have to see, ne?) I apologize in advance for making a reference to a certain filler episode that not everyone liked...But I liked it, so... Oh, and I also apologize that the "good old fashioned sword fight" mentioned after the last chapter isn't going to be in this chapter. But it will definitely be in the next. (muwahaha...) As always, comments, criticisms, flame, suggestions, etc, welcome and encouraged! ~*****~ "Kenshin, look..." Kenshin followed her gaze and saw it: a small figure lying on the ground, hunched over on its side facing away from them, its arms and legs sprawled out in front of it. "Who...is that?" ********************************************************* What Times May Come Chapter 3: Found and Lost By Tatsuko (Tatsuko@xoommail.com) 6/11/99 ********************************************************* Disclaimer: All Rurouni Kenshin Characters belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki-sensei (all hail). All other characters belong to me. Please just ask before posting somewhere. ^_^ < > = Thought A list of Japanese terms follows the fic. ***** Something Kaoru hadn't seen before flashed in Kenshin's eyes. Wordlessly, without even realizing his hand was hovering over the hilt of his sakabatou, he made his way over to the prone form. He knelt and checked for vital signs and injuries, then let out a sigh when he found a pulse and saw the motions of steady breathing. He couldn't feel any broken bones; there were only scratches, scrapes, and bruises, and a small wound on her forehead. Kenshin carefully moved the figure into a more comfortable resting position on its back. He didn't know quite what to make of this person in front of him; at first, he couldn't even tell if it was male or female. On a second look, though, he decided it was probably female. But she had to be young, because she was small (he guessed around 4'6") and she didn't yet have the proportions of a woman. She had a slight, thin frame, but was surprizingly well-muscled. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a braid that ran flat against her head (a French braid) then down just past her waist, where it was tied with a dark green ribbon. Her pale skin indicated she was foreign. But her facial features showed she was at least part Asian, and she was dressed in Japanese clothing: an off-white gi and black hakama. From the rough, hardened callouses on her hands, she was no newcomer to the sword arts. Kenshin frowned in thought. Then he immediately noticed something much more unexpected - the ring finger of her left hand bore an obviously expensive ring. Remembering his rather embarassing lesson in Western culture, he recognized that it was probably a sign of engagement. In any case, someone would probably be looking for her, wether it be her parents, her fiance, or both. "Do you think she'll be alright?" Kaoru asked from behind him. "I think so, but we'd better take her back to the doujou for now and send for Megumi-dono." Kaoru nodded agreement and Kenshin picked the girl up gently and started walking toward the doujou. When Yahiko spotted Kenshin coming, holding the unconscious girl in his arms, he ran up to meet them at the gate. "Oi, Kenshin..." "It's alright, Yahiko," he assured the boy. "But could you please go and get Megumi-dono?" "Wakatta." Yahiko paused briefly to get a better look at the unusual girl, then took off running. Kaoru rolled out a futon in her room, and Kenshin laid the girl down there. It wasn't long before Yahiko returned with Megumi. Kaoru showed the female doctor to where the girl was, then left her to her examination, quietly sliding the door closed behind her. When Megumi appeared again later, she had mostly good news to report. "Most of her injuries," she started, "were just scratches and bruises. She doesn't have any broken bones, like you thought, Ken-san." She sighed, then continued. "She does have a head injury though. I don't think it's too serious, but it's difficult to tell. Where are her parents? We should let them know..." "We...don't know," came Kaoru's reply. "We've never seen her before, but we were hoping maybe you'd seen her around town or in your clinic..." Megumi shook her head. "I haven't seen her before either. I have to get back to the clinic now, so I can ask my patients if anyone knows her, or knows about any new people in town. Or maybe the parents will come there asking if she's been brought in." "Thanks for your help, Megumi-san," Kaoru said gratefully. "And I'll go to the Akabeko and see if Tae-san or any of her customers know her," she offered. "Oi. I wanna help too, so what about me?" Yahiko asked. "Where do I look?" A little grin spread across Kaoru's face. "You," she began, "can just stay here." "NANI?! What are you saying, busu?" "Who are you calling busu, Yahiko-CHAN?" "CHAN wo yamero!" "Maa maa, calm down you two," Kenshin said in his most placating voice. "Kaoru-dono's right, Yahiko. Someone needs to stay here in case she wakes up or someone comes by looking for her." Yahiko opened his mouth to protest that it didn't have to be _him_ that "babysat." But then Kenshin added, "so I'll do it." This caught the three of them a little by surprize, but none of them found reason to argue. Megumi, Kaoru, and Yahiko left on their respective searches, and Kenshin stayed behind, occupying himself with daily chores like laundry ("Masshiro." ^_^X). He made it seem like he wasn't really watching over the girl, like he was too busy or careless, but all of his senses were constantly on guard. He had a plan. He continued scrubbing the same gi he'd been washing for a half hour. He snapped the excess water off the gi and hung it up to dry. Kenshin waited all day for the expected "visitor" to arrive. But noone came. And neither did the girl wake up. Near dark, Kaoru and Yahiko returned from their search without any luck. They were still no closer to finding out who the girl was. It had been a long day, so they decided to get some rest and start searching again in the morning. But the next morning, Kaoru woke to find that the futon where the girl had been laying was empty. She searched the doujou grounds, but there was no sign of her. After about a half hour of looking on her own, Kaoru realized that Kenshin wasn't up yet, even though he usually was by that time. So she went to his bedroom and called in, knocking on the wooden frame. When she got no response, she slid the door open a little and peeked in. The room was empty. The girl - and now Kenshin - was gone. tsuzuku... (to be continued...) ***** Japanese Terms: oi: Hey wakatta: In this case, it indicates agreement/understanding, like "OK" nani: What? busu: old hag (Yahiko's favorite insult to Kaoru ~_~;;) chan wo yamero: Quit calling me chan! maa maa: Now, now masshiro: Pure white ***** Coming up in Chapter 4: The whereabouts of Kenshin and the girl, and the sword fight promised in the last chapter ~*****~ Hmm...Not quite sure about this chapter...What do you think, minna? I'll be writing the next chapter today and tomorrow, (so you should see it soon ^_^) but I can still change things around in this chapter if you find anything wrong/OOC/confusing/just plain bad... Tatsuko awaiting a certain Lemon fic... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ With more than 20 million e-mails exchanged daily... http://www.onelist.com ...ONElist is home to the liveliest discussions on the Internet!