Chains of Time
A Rurouni Kenshin / Ronin Warriors crossover
Part 1
By Seiji-Chan
The sounds of pounding feet and the slamming of the sliding door of Dr. Genzai's clinic broke the silence of a peaceful afternoon.
"Megumi-dono... Megumi-dono..." a panic filled voice called. "Hurry it's an emergency, Koro...."
"Hey Fox, where are you?" Yelled Sano as he started slamming open the doors of the clinic in a rush to find Megumi.
"Ken-san, Sano," exclaimed a shocked Megumi, as she came out of the supply room of the clinic. "What is wrong?" She rushed over to Sano and then pushed her way around him to see what was wrong.
She stopped in shock at what she saw, Kenshin was holding Kaoru to his chest as she hung limply from his arms, the mid section of her kimono was a dark purple to the soft blue of the rest of the patterned silk. She turned and shoved Sano from the door of an exam room. "Quick bring her in here, what happened? I thought you were still at Sendai?" Megumi asked as she grabbed her kit."
Sano looked over at Kenshin who was gently laying Kaoru on a mat that was on the floor and decided to answer for him. "We arrived home this morning and we went to the market with Jo-chan, she wanted to get something for dinner. The market was packed, and someone must have accidentally stabbed her? We didn't know anything was wrong until she collapsed against Kenshin." Megumi knelt at Kaoru's side opposite of Kenshin, who was holding on to Kaoru's hand. Her eyes narrowed and then she cut off the obi and then the side of Kaoru's kimono to see the wound. "We brought her here as fast as we could..."
"Megumi-dono," Whispered Kenshin in shock, "Will she be all right?" He looked up from Kaoru's pale face so he could see Megumi's eyes.
Megumi looked down at the wound and then back at Kenshin, "Yes... yes she will be fine, if you would please leave the room, I will take care of it." She prepares to sew up Kaoro as they leave; she looks at Kaoro's face. ^^You were very lucky Kaoru; it looks like a stab wound and nothing vital was hit. You must have someone looking after you?^^
Kenshin looked at the closed door to the exam room where Megumi and Kaoru were. How could something like this happen? He could have sworn no one could have gotten that close to Kaoru without his noticing? His lavender eyes narrowed and glinted gold; he was going to find who was responsible for this.
~ Chapter One: From You to Me ~
Touma turned from the window as he heard a voice call his name.
"Touma, is Seiji going to be O.K." Asked a worried Shin as he came down the hall to the hospital waiting room.
"Yes Touma, we just heard about it on the radio, we came as soon as we could." Said Shu who was just behind Shin, a beach bag over his shoulder.
"What happened Touma?" All three turned to face Ryo as he came down another hall. "All I heard that there was an accident at the tournament and that they were bring Seiji to the hospital?" Questioned Ryo.
Touma ran his hand through his blue hair. "They are operating on him now," he looked over at the guys, "I do not believe it to be an injury from the tournament. No one touched him, and there was no blood! It has to be something internal. I hope it is not serious." Touma looked across the waiting room to where Seiji's family is. "He had just won his last set when he suddenly turned as if to defend himself, but no one was there. Then he clutched his right side and collapsed. They had to pry his sword out of his hand."
The boys stop talking as a doctor walks over to the Date family, they move closer so they too could hear what he said. "Date-san, your son was lucky. It looks like his appendix ruptured; he will be fine in just a few days. He is in recovery right now, I will have one of the nurses tell you which room he has been assigned and you can wait for him there." The doctor turned and looked at Touma and the guys "Are you friends of Seiji-kun?"
"Hai, we are. When can we see him." Asked Shin.
The doctor smiles, "Not until tomorrow." He looks back at the Date's, "Seiji-kun will sleep through until tomorrow morning. If every thing turns out fine and there is no infection he should be back at home in about a week."
"Oh, thank you doctor," said Date Miho. "Would it be possible for me to see him now?"
"Yes you can, but just for a few minutes. If you will come with me." And Date Kenjou and Miho followed the doctor.
Ayame looked down at her little sister. "Well Suki I guess we will go home." Suki pouted and folded her arms, "Stay with nii-chan!"
Ayme picks up Suki and starts walking down the hall, "Now Suki, stop that, he is a sleep and will be for a while. Lets go home and set up his new trophy for when he comes home all right."
Ayme looks at her sister, and tilts her head to one side, "O.K." And they walk in to the elevator and head to the parking lot, where Ayme's car is, and headed home.
"Well, I guess we should be heading out of here also." Said Ryo.
"Ya, but I don't feel like going back to the beach." Shu said.
"I know what you mean," answered Shin, "Lets come back tomorrow and visit."
"That is a good idea, and congratulate him on his wins today." Murmured Touma.
A few moments later at the entrance of the hospital, Shu realizes he left his beach bag in the waiting room. "Guys, wait a moment. I left my bag in the waiting room. I will be right back." A few minutes later in the waiting room. "Oh, there it is, I hope the guys are waiting for me still?" As he walks back the way he came he hears Seiji's doctor talking to one of the floor nurses.
"That had to be one of the strangest operations I have ever performed!"
"What do you mean Doctor?" Asked the Nurse. "The Date boy? It says here that it was a ruptured appendix? A standard procedure."
Shu flattened himself agenst the wall, and hoped he wouldn't be noticed. ^^What was the Doctor talking about?^^
"I know and that is what I put in the report and told the boys' parents. It was the only thing I could think of at the time. But it wasn't his appendix at all, it looked like a stab wound, all the internal organs in that area have the same type of trauma that one who has been stabbed would have. But there is no entry point. No marks on his skin? I had to tell them something. And an appendices was the closest surgery that I could use." The doctor and nurse walk down the hall and out of hearing range for Shu.
^^A stabbing? With no marks on the skin?^^ Shu's eyes narrowed. ^^I had better tell the guys. Some one is trying to kill Seiji!^^
~*~*~ The next morning, just before 10 a.m., everyone is gathered in the lounge, waiting for visiting hours to begin, and for Seiji's family to leave.
"I still can't believe what you heard Shu, that is not possible!" Whispered Touma.
"I know, I know, but that is what I heard." Whispered Shu.
"It could be possible." Said Shin, "If someone was using magic, it could be a stabbing."
"But who, we currently are not up against anything that is supernatural, or anything at all." Pointed out Ryo.
Touma looked towards the rest of the gang, "Maybe something is starting and what ever is behind it wants Seiji out of the way?"
"That could be it. Maybe Seiji has an idea on what is going on?" Said Shin, "We will tell him what we know and prepare our selves before the next attack."
~*~*~ ~ A week later ~
"Seiji, it is so nice to have you home once again." Sighed Miho.
"Yes onii-chan," gushed Suki. "Look, look at where I put your trophy." She ran up the stairs and through open the door to Seiji's room. And impatiently waited for her brother as he slowly made his way up the stairs. He then smiled at what Suki had done. One of the selves on the wall was decorated with quarts and in the middle of the arrangement was the largest of the trophies that he won.
Seiji smiled down at Suki, "It looks great," he said ruffling her hair. "Thank you very much."
Suki looked up, "Onii-chan, you are going to be O.K. right?
"Yes Suki," He walks over to his bed and sits down. "I will be just fine, do not worry, I would like to rest now. Tell Okaassan I will be down for dinner." Suki smiled and walked out of the room, closing the door as she left. As soon as the door closed, Seiji laid down and closed his eyes. ^^Every thing will be fine Suki, the guys and I will find out what is going on and stop it!^^
A while later as Seiji laid on his bed dozing, an image of a girl appeared. It was close to noon and a beautiful day. The girl had her black hair in a ponytail and her friend's in a long braid. They were facing each other while talking as they walked down the street, each carrying a few packages. Seiji had the impression they were going towards a restaurant when everything darkened momentarily and a man attacked from the side. His features were shrouded in shadows, and an aura of coldness surrounded him. He pushed the one with the braid brutally out of his way and grabbed the taller of the two by her arm and turned her towards him, and brought a dagger towards her chest. Seiji could see her large brown eyes widen I shock. Just as the dagger would have struck, Seiji jumped up, awake. ^^What... what was that? It was a premonition? But was it the past? Who was the girl? Se looks familiar?^^
As he was wondering about this dream, Ayame knocked on the door. "Seiji, may I come in?"
"Yes Ayame," answered Seiji, looking up at his elder sister as she came in. She was wearing a blue kimono with a pink Oto and she had her long black hair pulled up in a ponytail, tied with a blue silk ribbon. She was dressed similarly to the girl in his vision; Seiji stared in shock, until Ayame spoke.
"Seiji, what is wrong?" She looked down at Seiji; "you look as if you saw a ghost?"
"It is nothing, you just startled me, that is all." ^^The girl from my vision, she looks so much like Ayme. She has to be related to us some how?^^
She looked at Seiji doubtfully, "If you are sure. Oh, Ryo called. Everyone is going to Nasutei's this weekend and he wanted to know if you were able to come?" She smiled at Seiji; "I already asked Otusan and Okaasan for you. You can go if you wish. They think it would be nice to spend some time out of Tokyo. And the fresh air should help you recover."
"Arigatou onee-chan, I will call Nasutei and Ryo and tell them I will be there."
~*~*~ "Seiji, welcome." Nasutei looked at Seiji, "We are all so relieved that you are well, everyone came today." Nasutei led Seiji in to the study and as he looked around, he realizes that she really did mean everybody.
"Kayura, what are you and the Ma Sho doing here?" He looked at them and then back to Nasutei and the guys. "It is something about me? The attack earlier this week!" His eyes narrowed. "What is it!"
Anubis looked up at Seiji, not surprised at all by Seiji's reaction. "Shuten showed up early last week, just after you were admitted to the hospital, and warned us about a threat to Tokyo. A demon that would be freed when a family line dies." He looked down at his feet. "The family line is yours, Seiji. It has to kill you before your eight-tenth birthday so that it will be freed to aid in the destruction of this world."
Kayura continued with the explanation. "It is the gate-keeper between our world and the Evil World. It must be stopped at all cost. As you are one of the warriors of chains, it could not directly harm you once you accepted the armor and all it represented. But it can control time, and up to a point, influence events to suit its needs. Its powers are contained in the city limits of Tokyo proper, the part that was originally Edo. It cannot attack you directly, and was unable to attack you when you were a child, it found a new means of attack."
Touma looked over at Kayura, "You said it could not attack Seiji directly, then what was that incident at the tournament?"
"Yes Kayura, it felt like a direct attack. If I did not make it to the hospital when I did I would not be here now!"
Kayura sighed, "The attack was not meant for you but for an ancestor of yours. Somehow the attack started in the past and continued to the present, to you?" A slightly confused look crossed her face for a moment and then vanished. "If that did not happen, you would not exist now to worry this demon. And the door to the Evil World would now be open."
An image of the girl from his vision earlier came to his mind. ^^My ancestor, that must be who she is.^^ Seiji looked at Kayura, "My ancestor that is in danger, is there any way to protect her and prevent any further injury to myself?"
Kayura smiled at Seiji and the rest of the guys. "Yes there is a way. If we send you all to the past you could protect Seiji's ancestor, which would stop any injury to Seiji and stop this demon at the same time." She looks over at the Ma Sho. "The guys have all the items that you will need, cloths, money, weapons. It is up to you to find your ancestor though."
They watched Naaza and Rajura leave the room and return a few moments later with several bundles of cloths and some weapons. Naaza starts to hand out the clothing and weapons. "We will be unable to accompany you as we are alive in the past time you need to go to. But you should be fine, from what we could determine from what Shuten said. You shouldn't be appearing in the middle of one of the civil wars."
"That is good." Replied Ryo, "But how will we find the right time to go to, and the right person."
"I believe that if Seiji concentrates on his ancestor, and with the help of the Shakujo, you will be able to teleport to the right place and time." Kayura looked at the troopers, "Go change and I will prepare my self. We must hurry, delaying now could endanger the past."
A half-hour later outside near the lake stood the Troopers. They were dressed in old style clothes the colors of their former armor, and were standing in a circle with Kayura in the middle.
Kayura looked her staff. "Seiji concentrate on your ancestor, and all of you focus on teleporting with Seiji. He is your guide."
Seiji closed his eyes, ^^my ancestor, the girl from my vision it must be her!^^ An image of her face appears before him. ^^She is in danger; we must go to the time of that premonition. It was a warning to me!^^
Suddenly Seiji hears a jingling sound and a brilliant light flashes before his closed eyes, a cool darkness and then the light reappears. Seiji and the others open their eyes and looked around. They were standing on the outskirt of Tokyo, a city that was greatly different from the one they remembered. As they enter the city they notice that the few people they encounter gave them wide birth. Touma, like the rest of the guys, was looking around. He notices a boy selling papers and wanders over to buy one. He then heads back to the rest of the gang and starts to read.
"Uhh, guys," everyone turns to Touma. He shows them the paper. "The spring of the 12 year of the Meiji period." Touma looks up. "We shouldn't be carrying weapons, expescialy Seiji and Ryo. That is why everyone is avoiding us."
Shu holds his weapon in front of him-self. "When we get home," he clutches his staff in a strangle hold his voice rising as he speaks, "I am going to kill Rajura, he and the others had to know about this!"
"Shu," hissed Shin, "keep your voice down, we do not need any more trouble than we have now." Said Shin.
Shu glared over at Shin, but he did stop yelling.
Shin takes the paper from Touma. "Some of the articles in this paper are against the Ishin government and the officials." He looks and finds the name of the author, "It is written by Tunan Tukioka."
"Wasn't he mentioned in our political History class last semester? Ryo said.
"Yes he was," answered Shin.
Seiji looked up from the paper and looked at Touma's face. "Do you know of him Touma?" Asked Seiji.
"Yes I do." Touma looked at the paper. "He is an ancestor on my mothers side of the family, from what I know he was a member of the Sekihoutai. Family rumors say that the Ishin officials framed them. Only two survived the execution. Both were children at the time." He sighed and looked over at Seiji, "If this is the right time, is this the right place?"
Seiji looked around, and his eyes lost their focus and turned a dark purple. "No, the place is wrong." He turned in a circle, a little past halfway he stopped. "We have to go this direction, she is walking towards a restaurant with a friend. We have to hurry, it is almost noon!"
Ryo starts after Seiji who has started to run even before he finished talking. Touma looks at Shin and Shu, confused. "How does Seiji know that it is a girl we are looking for?" Whispered Touma.
"I do not know!" Answered Shin, "But earlier he didn't he say that it was a girl? I wonder how he knows where she is? And why is he so worried about what time it is? He can't be worrying about lunch!"
"Uh, Shin, Touma, if we don't hurry they are going to loose us!" And Shu points down the street where Seiji and Ryo were running around a corner. "Come on!"
~*~*~ Kaoru and Misao were heading to Tae's after an exhausting morning of shopping. Misao looked over at Kaoru, who was carrying as many packages as she was. "Kaoru are you sure you are up to this?"
Kaoru looked back at Misato and sighed. "Misao I am fine, it has been a week and it was s small cut! And I am enjoying having some time to myself with out Kenshin hovering over me. Now after I get that recipe from Tae I am going to make us the best dinner ever." She smiles as she continues. "It is so nice that you and Aoshi could come and visit."
Misato shutters at the thought of Kaoru in the kitchen. "Yes, it is. And Aoshi even is starting to act like his old self (she sighs) as if that is a big improvement. I was worried all winter about him... Wha..." Squeaked Misao as she suddenly felt some one shove her in the small of her back towards the street.
~*~*~ As Seiji was running down the street with Ryo right behind him, Seiji looked back past Ryo, to see where the others were, and sees' that they are quite a distance behind. ^^How did they get so far behind?^^ The normal crowds of people on the streets rushed out of their way as the tall blonde drew his sword. Seiji narrowed his eyes in determination; they were almost there. As they rounded the next corner they saw a monk rush out of a near by ally and head towards two young ladies. Seiji ran faster with Ryo just behind him as the monk shoved the girl with the braid towards the street, the packages she was carrying falling to her feet. Ryo lunged at her and slammed in to her, forcing them both to the other side of the street, barley saving her from being trampled by a wagon.
Seiji lunged in, his sword extended; as the monk grabbed the girl by her arm and turned her towards himself quickly brining a dagger towards her chest. Seiji brought his sword down on the monk's wrist severing the hand from the arm, sending both flying harmlessly a short distance away, saving Kaoru from being stabbed. The monk released the girls' arm and dodged away from the young man with the sword.
Kaoru looked up at the monk in shock and then the monk's arm. "No blood," she whispered to her self in shock, "there is... no blood ... anywhere?" Kaoru gasped as every thing dimmed and went black.
The monk snarled and looked around, and then he jumped up onto the nearest building and was gone. Shin, Shu and Touma looked up after him and then back at Seiji. Seiji was kneeling next to the girl the monk attacked. Seiji looked up at his friends. "She will be fine, she just fainted."
Touma looked over at where the hand landed, no blood, and the dagger was still firmly grasped by its fingers. ^^Unusual?^^ Touma reached over and grabbed the paper from Shin and wrapped the hand and dagger with it. ^^I do not think I want any one else to see this!^^ Across the street, Ryo picked himself up from the ground and looked over at the girl he saved, she was also starting to stand; he offered her his hand to help her up.
"Kaoru?" She whispered and looked around, taking the offered hand up. She looked up at the owner of the hand and was startled to be looking up at a tall young man with black hair and china blue eyes. The same color as hers. She blinked and looked around again. "My friend that I was with, where is she?"
Ryo blinked and looked across the street. "She is with my friends, someone tried to attack her." Misao's eyes widened and she turned white. "I am sure she is safe." He released her hand and they both crossed over to where a small crowd had gathered.
"Please everyone," said a soft voice, "Please, everyone everything is over now. Continue with what you were doing." Shin watched as the crowd dissipated and then looked at Ryo and a small girl with black hair and startling blue eyes. "Ryo, is she O.K.? That could have been a serious accident!"
"She is fine Shin, how is she doing?" Asked Ryo looking down at Kaoru.
"Kaoru!" The Misao pushed her way past Shin and knelt by the other girl. She placed her hand on Kaoru's chest to see if she was still breathing. Relieved that she only fainted, Misao looked up at the young man opposite of her and was startled when she saw his eyes as he pushed his forelock of blonde hair from his eye. "Oh," she gasped, ^^his eyes, they look just like Himura-san's?^^ Her attention was dragged back to the girl on the ground as she moaned. "Kaoru... Kaoru, are you O.K.?"
Kaoru's eyes fluttered and opened. She could hear Misao calling her name, Kaoru looked up and saw her friends' worried face and smiled slightly and then looked around and her eyes widened as they stopped on a pair of lavender eyes, tinted with gold. "Kenshin?" She whispered.
~ End of Chapter One ~