Part III

     "Kensan, take his head.  Sano, help him take Hibikisan inside."  The two men automatically did as the doctor told them.  "Yahiko, get me some warm water and cloths please?  Kaoru, I'll need my kit."  As Kenshin and Sanosuke lay her patient down, Megumi knelt and took his pulse.  Taking the cloth from Yahiko, she wet it and asked Kenshin to boil water for tea.
     As she wiped his face gently with the wet cloth, Ryouga began to come around.  "Wha..  what happened?"
     "You fainted.  Partly from shock.  And when's the last time you ate?"
     Ryouga shook his head.  "I don't remmber."
     "What year did you think it was, anyway?"  Yahiko piped up, looking at the stranger with blunt cynicism.
     "It's 1990 where I'm from.  You're kidding, right?  About this being the Meiji era?  I've walked into a movie, haven't I."  But Ryouga knew, by looking at the four faces around him that they were serious, and there was no movie.
     The hot doctor was talking again, and hallucination or not, she was a babe.  "You don't have a fever, but you do need to balance your blood sugar.  The shock didn't help.  Lie still for a while and we'll get you something to eat."
     Ryouga had been about to protest but the promise of food was infinitely more appealing than getting lost again.  Besides, there was a foxy doctor here, and that spunky, pretty girl who reminded him of Akane, only with longer hair.  And so much cuter...
     But no!   He must never be disloyal to Akane!  Somehow he'd gotten lost in the past.  It wasn't the end of the world.  He'd find his way back to her as he always did.  Wouldn't he?
     He smiled, hoping he looked as nonchalant as he didn't feel.  "Do you know of any place to eat around here?  I'll just grab something on my way through town.  I'll be out of your way in no time."
     Megumi met Kenshin's eyes as Sano opened his mouth.  "There's a great restaurant, the Akabeko --"
     "But there's plenty here, and lunch is just about ready."  Kenshin cut off his friend.  Sano scowled but let him continue.  "There's no reason for you to leave without eating."
     Kaoru looked like she might want to argue the point but kept her mouth wisely shut.  It would not do to make a fuss in front of their guest.
     Kenshin rose to set an extra place at the table, but Yahiko could not stop staring at the young man who was now sitting up and playing one-hand catch with his umbrella.  "So how'd you manage to get so lost anyway?"
     Ryouga bristled.  "I didn't do it on purpose!"
     "Hey, I never said you did.   It's just weird that you got thrown off in time too.  If you really are from the future.  What's it like anyway, where -- uhh, when you're from?"  Yahiko was torn between skepticism and enthusiasm.  The whole notion was so strange.
     Ryouga quelled the desire to hit the loudmouthed kid, even though he knew he'd probably ask the same questions if someone had come back to him in time.  Still...
     "Well, It's very different.  I think."
     "You think!?!?"
     "Maybe not that different.  We have phones and trains and cars --" the kid looked lost so he stopped himself.  "Hey, what's your name anyway?"  For some reason he'd never been introduced.  Maybe he was someone's kid brother.
     "I'm Myoujin Yahiko.  I'm practically a master of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu."
 Ryouga blinked.  "Well then, Myoujinsan, we've got cars --"
     "What's a car?"
     Ryouga was at a loss.  Megumi whispered to Kaoru, "Hibikisan's got a friend for life.  He didn't call Yahiko 'chan'."
     The younger girl nodded; Megumi was right.  The guy was pretty cute.
     "Anyone hungry?" Kenshin appeared with a smile and food.
     But not as cute as Kenshin.
     "...And airplanes which are like really big trains that fly --"
     "Trains that fly!?!?!"
     "Uh huh, and televisions so you can watch a show without going out, and microwave ovens, which you can cook in without a fire...  And air conditioning!  So even when it's hot you can go inside and it'll be cool!  And we've got computers..."
     "Either he has an incredible imagination, he's completely nuts, or that kid really is from the future."  Sanosuke looked skeptical.  "Can you imagine what a miracle instant food would be?  I bet even jouchan couldn't mess that up!"
     The smirk on his face was quickly wiped off with the aid of a bokken connecting forcefully with his skull.  For some reason, Kaoru looked upset.
     Kenshin called everyone to the table as he brought out a steaming dish.  Appreciative murmers came from all around as the food evaporated into six hungry mouths.
     "I hate to admit it but this does make a nice change from Akane's cooking," Ryouga mumbled around a mouthful.  "I mean, I love Akane's cooking!  But she does tend to overdo a little...  Her sister Kasumi's the best.  Where I come from anyway."  He looked uncertain, but Kenshin was smiling.
     Sano grinned, forgetting his recent collision.  "Oiy, jouchan, this Akane of his must be descended from you."
     This time it was an empty platter that graced Sanosuke's cerebral region.
     "Itai...  That's starting to hurt!  Jouchan, why are you such a violent, tomboyish -- itaii!!!"  A second bump sprouted from the first.
     "Yare, yare," Kenshin sighed.
     Ryouga couldn't helpt thinking how like Akane she was, only with blue eyes and such long, long hair.  And she used a bokken.  Other than that she was just like Akane.  Except she wore a kimono or a practice ghi, while Akane wore comfortable clothes or a school uniform.
     It was around then that he realized his clothes were very out of place.  And so, for that matter, was he.
     How depressing.  Ryouga promised himself that if he ever met the sadistic being that had gotten him this lost...  Well, it would be one very apologetic being.
     Very apologetic.  This was just too much.  Ryouga wanted to sleep.
     "Is there someplace I could take a nap around here?  I'd better rest before I go off again.  This has been hell -- no offense."  One minute he'd been running through the woods, demanding Saotome's life, the next he was in Tokyo -- in the Meiji era.
     "You can stay here if you need to."  Kaoru smiled.  "Maybe you'd like to study Kamiya Kasshin Ryu while you're here?"
     Another style...  Yes.  That would be an interesting advantage.  He would learn and when he returned, he could defeat Saotome at last...
     Besides, he'd have a cute teacher.