Subject: [KFFDISC] [Fic] A Starry Night's Deja Vu: Prologue Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 05:40:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Honjou Mizu Reply-To: kffdisc@nabiki.com To: kffdisc@nabiki.com "A Starry Night's Deja Vu: Prologue" By Mizu Onna Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin! Please don't sue! Author's Pre-Fic Note: Well, here I am again, with my weird ideas for fanfiction. ^_^ Hope you like this one! And yes, I know the ideas for reincarnations are really common, but I can't help but write something similar. ~_~ ~*~*~ 1991... A little 6-year-old girl gazed up at the stars in wonder, her aquamarine eyes glittering with interest and awe. "Jii-san!" She babbled happily, pointing a chubby finger at Kyoto's velvet sky, where silver points of starlight were visible through the thin layer of clouds. "Hoshi!" She chirped. An old man beside her turned to look at what she was gesturing to, and smiled. "Aa. Stars. Kireii, ne?" He said. The little girl nodded energetically and grinned. "It's a good thing, Midori-chan, that you appreciate stars so much." "Doushite?" Tiny Midori asked in curiosity, leaning eagerly towards her aging grandfather. "Because they're actually angels far far away in the sky, watching over us, bringing us good fortune." He replied kindly. "They guide us to our fates." Sighing, he stretched and stood up, rubbing his back. "I'm going in now, Midori-chan. Oyasumi." He called out to her as he walked up the cobblestone path leading to the iron-wrought gate of their front garden. "Oyasumi nasai, Jii-san!" Midori answered. As he swung the gate closed behind him, it creaked and slightly gaped ajar. Midori walked to the gate and hurriedly pushed it back in its place. In her haste to return to watching the night sky, she accidentally slammed the iron into her fingers. She let out a howl and clutched her throbbing digits, crying big, fat tears over her hurts. But after a few seconds of crying, no one had still come to her rescue, for her grandfather was back inside their house and no one else was there to attend to her. Sniffling sadly, and far too scared of the gate to go and open it, she just sat on the brick floor and held back her fresh wave of tears. "What's the matter, little girl?" A male voice questioned. Midori blinked, her eyes focusing upon white sneakers, to be followed by jeans, which already had holes in their knees, and a black shirt. And finally, the face. It was a boy in his early teens, with short cropped black tresses brushing his forehead softly, while grayish blue eyes peeked out from behind the fall of his hair. "My--my finger," She sobbed, holding out the swollen thumb. She sniffed miserably, her lip trembling as she fought back her urge to bawl again. "It doesn't look that bad," The teen reasoned, gently taking her fingers in his much bigger palm. "Just get some ice and place it over. You don't have any wounds or anything," He consoled her. "Demo...it hurts!" Midori wailed. "It won't, once you put the ice on. Now get going inside before you get into any further trouble." He adviced her. When she glanced fearfully at the gate, he nodded in understanding. "Here." He offered, pulling the fence open for her. She gave him a feeble grin of thanks and headed stepped through. The boy watched her as she disappeared past the oak doors leading inside, a faint smile upon his face. 10 years later... Midori wiped her face with a towel, sighing gratefully as she spotted the gate of her residence. After 3 hours of practicing her gymnastics, she was happy to be back home. Due to the sultry summer weather it had been more difficult to concentrate on physical exercise, but it had always been one of her hobbies, and at least it kept her occupied. School was to begin in a few days, and finally she was going to junior year in high school. Unhinging the lock of the gate, she pulled back too fast and hit her hand on the iron. Biting back a string of curses, she growled in frustration, her eyes watering with the smarting tingles that spread up her hand. "Itai..." She moaned, shaking her arm. "Kuso!" She grumbled as she fished for the handle with her left hand. Her ears prickled when she heard footfalls less than a few feet away from her. Not wanting to be seen in such an embarrassing situation, she turned away, and hurried farther in opening the gateway. Her face flushed in exertion and humiliation as seconds ticked by and her attempts were of no success. "Do you need any help?" A deep baritone inquired, not exactly politely, but enough to be cordial. "No thank you!" Midori exclaimed heatedly as she fumbled with the metal bar holding the entryway closed. "I think I can do this myself!" She snapped irritably. "And I would think that after ten years, you wouldn't forget that I could help you in such matters." The voice dryly stated, tinged with amusement and sarcasm in the same remark. Midori spun around, determined to tell this guy off for trying to tell her that she was supposed to know him, much less be in gratitude of him. "Listen here, kisama--" She cut herself off as her eyes locked with the most haunting ones she had seen; a dark, clouded blue, like the ocean by dusk. They were peering intently at her from black tendrils of hair. Midori had to crane her neck up to meet his gaze. "Maa, maa." The man held his hands up, showing that he had no bad intentions. "If you don't want my help, it's fine with me. It's not my loss." He turned away and continued his lazy stroll past her. "Chotto!" Midori called out, before stopping herself. "Have I seen you before?" She asked suspiciously, squinting her eyes to perhaps see him more clearly. "Hai, I believe you have." He nodded. "A decade ago." Midori's raised one eyebrow at him skeptically. "I have?" She muttered. "I told you to put ice on your thumb. I believe it worked." He drawled. Midori looked at her finger as a look of understanding crossed her eyes. "Oh." She murmured. "So...you were that boy. Now I remember." She intoned softly, feeling a blush creep up her neck and ears. To think she was so rude to him! She recalled the incident as if it were yesterday, and she felt even more silly to be faced with yet again the same situation ten years later. He smirked. "That was me. Nice to see you again." He deadpanned. Midori colored brighter. "Anyway, I think I'd better be going. I think you can handle that gate all by yourself now?" He chuckled. "Hai." Midori nodded firmly, facing the entrance again so he wouldn't see her flaming cheeks. "Ja." She heard his footsteps passing her by, fading, growing softer as he moved on... "Matte yo!" Midori yelled after him, much to her own surprise as well as his. He looked back, turning his head slightly to indicate that he was listening. "You didn't give me your name." She whispered. The man smiled. "Was I supposed to?" He questioned sardonically, ignoring as Midori blushed. "It's Kodama." After a long pause, he flicked his wrist at her in a casual wave, and strode off once more, leaving Midori staring after him. ~*~*~ Author's Note: I hope you guys like it! I guess it's obvious, I hope it is, but Midori is Misao's reincarnation. ^_^ And apparently, Kodama is Aoshi, while the grandfather is Okina. Inspiration for this fic comes from Hana Yori Misao and Mystasia-san's Falling Into You. ^_^ ===== "...it seemed as if we were the only people alive between the silky water and the silvery, moonlit sky." --Da Chen in "Colors of the Mountain"