From: Tatsuko Hi all! Finally got Chapter 5 done, thanks to a little bit of much-needed pushing and nudging on behalf of a few friends... Hope you enjoy. ^_^ It's not really much, though...I was originally going to jump right into Ami's explanation of who she is and where she comes from, but then decided to add this chapter as a transition and move Ami's story to the next chapter. Gomen, You'll have to wait a little longer for all the info about Ami. ~_~;; The next chapter should be done next week though. Oh, many thanks to Risu-chan for suggesting a title for the previous chapter: "Silence and the Night." Arigatou! ^_^ If anyone needs the first few chapters, e-mail me privately and I'll be glad to send 'em your way. As always, comments, corrections, suggestions, criticism, etc. are welcomed, appreciated, and greatly encouraged. (Go ahead, be brutal, I can take it... ~_~) ~*****~ Kenshin thought he remembered the name "Nazotoki" from somewhere but let it pass for the time being. There were other things to worry about. He wrote: /I'll take you to a doctor./ Ami nodded and threw her sack over her right shoulder, and they headed for the clinic as dawn began to arrive. Kenshin thought, And he hoped that Ami would give them to him. ********************************************************* What Times May Come Chapter 5: Hajimemashite By Tatsuko (Tatsuko@xoommail.com) 7/9/99 ********************************************************* 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 / / = Written A list of Japanese terms follows the fic. ***** Megumi was just opening the door to the clinic when Kenshin and Ami arrived. "Megumi-dono." Kenshin's voice broke the near silence of the morning. "Ah, Ken-san, what..." The female doctor turned and saw the little foreign girl standing next to Kenshin, clutching her left arm. "What happened?" "She woke up last night," Kenshin began. "For some reason, she left the doujou and headed for Tokyo. And she ran into some thugs." Megumi got a quizzical look on her face, but decided the details could wait until later. She started to inspect the wound. "Hmm...This is definitely going to need to be sewn up." She motioned for the two to follow her into the clinic. "It might hurt for a little bit, but it needs to be done," she told the girl. "Ano... Megumi-dono," Kenshin broke in, "I don't think she can hear you. I think she's deaf." Megumi put her hand lightly over her mouth in a bit of surprize and embarassment. "Oh, I see." She looked at the girl and mentally added Kenshin hung back in the waiting area, and Megumi gestured for Ami to follow her into the treatment room. The girl hesitated and threw a questioning glance at Kenshin, then followed the doctor down the hall. In the treatment room, Megumi searched for and brought out some thread and a long curved needle. Ami saw it right away and could guess what it meant. She flinched, then somewhat timidly took her hand off her wound and brought the injured arm up for the doctor. Cleaning and stitching the wound didn't take much time at all. the cut had been made cleanly, making it easier to stitch, and Ami made a cooperative patient. After it was all through and the bandages were put on, the girl followed Megumi back out to the waiting room - and the sight that greeted them was certainly one to behold. The red-headed swordsman that Ami had just seen effortlessly defeat a whole gang of thugs was now being kept at bay by a single girl with a bokken. She had long black hair pulled up in a ponytail and blue eyes; she would have been pretty if it weren't for that angry look she had on her face. She had a death-grip on his shirt and seemed to be alternating between shaking the poor guy to death and threatening him with her bokken. Much to Ami's surprize, the red-head seemed to take it all in stride (although she thought he actually looked _scared_ for a moment there...). He offered no resistance, merely raising his hands in a useless effort to placate the girl. And she was yelling something... "Kenshin no baka! Do you know how much you worried me?" "Suman de gozaru, Kaoru-dono, I really didn't mean to... Oro?" Kenshin turned to look at the two females in the doorway, one annoyed and the other downright perplexed. Kaoru released her grip on his shirt, then chuckled nervously as she quickly tried to hide the bokken behind her back. "Me-Megumi-san! Good morning!" Megumi sighed loudly. "Stupid girl. Not only are you hurting Ken-san, but you put my patient in shock!" She waved her hand toward Ami, who had an absolutely pole-axed expression on her face, her eyes wide and her jaw hanging open. Kaoru smiled embarassedly at Ami and gave off a little nervous chuckle. "Um...Gomen. Hajimemashite. Kamiya Kaoru desu," she said, bowing. Ami shook her head to clear it. She looked first at Kenshin, then at Megumi, one eyebrow raised in question, silently asking "Who _is_ this girl?" "She can't hear you, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin explained. "She's deaf." "Ara? Oh, um, I didn't know..." She lowered her eyes in embarassment. "So...have you found out anything else about her?" All three pairs of eyes looked at Ami, and she shifted nervously under the scrutiny. "I only know that her name is Nazotoki Ami, and she's pretty good with a sword," Kenshin offered. "If we want to find out more, perhaps we should find some paper and something to write with..." Megumi nodded. "Sure. I think I have some in the back." She disappeared down the hall and returned moments later with paper, ink, and an ink brush, which she gave to Kenshin. Kenshin quickly wrote: /Where are you from? Is there anyone who might be trying to find you?/ He handed the paper to Ami. Ami read the paper as the other three watched and waited expectantly. Her expression turned thoughtful. She looked intently from Kenshin to Kaoru to Megumi, almost as if she were studying them or considering them. She seemed to be trying to come to a decision. Evidently, the girl made some sort of decision, because she put the paper and writing implements down and started rummaging through her bag. After a minute or two, she brought out two small, oddly shaped objects. And to the others' surprize, she placed one in each ear. "Nee, what are those?" Kaoru asked of noone in particular. Kenshin looked at Kaoru. "I don't know..." "Hearing Aids." All eyes turned back to Ami. "They're called hearing aids," she explained in slightly accented Japanese. All three jaws dropped. Megumi was the first to speak up. "But, I thought you were deaf. Are those 'Hearing Aids' some sort of new Western invention, that let you hear?" Ami smiled a little. "I'm not deaf, just hearing impaired," she said, looking down at the floor. Noone spoke for a long moment. Then in a quiet, nervous voice, she asked: "Umm...Would you mind telling me...Where am I? And...What year is it?" Somewhere in the shadows right outside the clinic, Matsuno grinned. Tsuzuku (To be continued) Coming up in Chapter 6: Ami's Story (I promise! ^_^;;) ***** Japanese Terms: ano: Umm... kawaisou ne: "Poor girl" or "What a shame." bokken: Wooden sword used for practice in some martial arts suman de gozaru: "I'm sorry" a la Kenshin gomen: Sorry hajimemashite: Typical introduction word, usually translated as "How do you do?" Kamiya Kaoru desu: "I'm Kamiya Kaoru." ara: "Huh?" (feminine) nee: "Hey," or "Say" ***** About the title: "Hajimemashite" is a rather interesting word, and one of the first that students of Japanese learn. It's usually encountered in introductions, and in that situation it is commonly translated as "How do you do?" However, it's literal meaning is "for the first time" (i.e. In an introduction, it would be "I'm meeting you for the first time"). I chose "hajimemashite" as the title to play off of this literal meaning, since there are a couple of "firsts" in this chapter: It's the first time Megumi and Kaoru are introduced to Ami, and it is the first time that she speeks. "Hajimemashite" also implies a beginning, and this chapter is the beginning of a rather interesting story from Ami... ~*****~ OK, Now a quick little survey for those following the fic...It's only two questions, mainly to satisfy my own curiosity...Please respond privately, 'kay? 1) Where, or when, do you think Ami comes from? (Just wanted to see how much I've given away about her so far and how much I've managed to keep secret) ^____^ 2) I've been thinking about adding a "Making of the Characters" bit to the next chapter, kind of like Watsuki-sensei does in his manga. It would basically outline how I came up with one of the characters I created. If response is positive, I'll eventually do it for most of the characters I created, as I write more chapters. Do you guys think this is a good idea? Interesting? Boring? Stupid? Let me know what ya think... Well, that's it. Hope you liked this chapter. I promise to get the next one out next weekend! It's probably going to end up being a long one though, so I may end up splitting it up into parts... Ja ne Tatsuko