Rurouni Kenshin Fanfic

Rurouni Kenshin & Samurai X Original Japanese Version © N.Watsuki/Shueisha * Fuji-TV * SME Visual Works Inc. * Sony Pictures Entertainment

All Fanfics created by Chiruken and Rurouni Angel were written for the sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for publication or sale.

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A collaboration of Rurouni Angel and Chiruken

Rurouni Heir

by Rurouni Angel and Chiruken

Prologue

The Lady Mary Kingston, daughter of Edward Kingston, 5th Earl of Rodenberry, met Himura Kenzan, the youngest son of a minor samurai who was on a secret diplomatic mission to England. The two fell in love and had a wild, passionate affair that ended with Mary becoming pregnant. Upon discovering that his beloved Mary now carried his child, Kenzan convinced her to elope, both knowing that her father, The Right Honorable The Earl of Rodenberry, would never agree to such a "scandalous" marriage, and they were married in secret at a small chapel in a quiet village in Yorkshire. From there, fearing the wrath of her father, The Lord Rodenberry, Kenzan and Mary departed England for Japan, intending to live a quiet and peaceful life on the southern most island of Japan, Kyushu (one of the only places foreigners were permitted in Japan at that time). During the long and difficult voyage Mary felt the full effects of seasickness combined with morning sickness and fell dangerously ill. Her constitution weakened by this, the ship's doctor feared for her life and that of her unborn child. Finally, just off the coast of Japan during a summer storm Mary gave birth to Himura Kenzan's child a mere 7 months into the pregnancy. The child was not expected to live. They named him Shinta for his Japanese heritage...and Matthew for his English heritage.

Despite the odds, Shinta did indeed live, though he remained small and frail in appearance. Due to the difficulty of the first pregnancy Mary was unable to have more children. Upon discovering the marriage of his son to a foreign woman, Himura Genjo, Kenzan's father, disowned him, proclaiming his actions to be a dishonor to his ancestors. Mary and Kenzan settled in a small farming village on Kyushu and lived a peaceful, happy life with their son, Shinta. Mary told Shinta many stories of her life in England, of the grand balls, the dinners with the peers, the summers in the country and the winters in London. She told him of the Kingston family and their history as peers of the aristocracy. Theirs was an idyllic existence. Kenzan discovered a talent for growing and soon found that he loved farming. Mary settled into life in Japan happily with her small family, though she would occasionally feel the pangs of homesickness during the winter, around the time she called "Christmas".  Kenzan eventually convinced her to write to her father to give him the news of their marriage and the birth of their son.  Reluctantly Mary did so, secretly fearing that her son would be taken from her, she only wrote of his English name to her father, proclaiming her darling Shinta's name to be Matthew Kingston.  She never received a reply to her letter.

When Shinta was six years old a cholera epidemic swept through the village, claiming the lives of nearly everyone who lived there...including both of his parents. The survivors, unable to properly feed and care for their own children, were left with no choice but to sell the orphans of the epidemic to a group of slave traders passing through the village. And so, at the age of six, Himura Shinta, only living direct heir to the Kingston family legacy, and effectively 6th Earl of Rodenberry upon the death of his grandfather, the current Earl of Rodenberry, was orphaned and sold into slavery, taking with him the memories of his beautiful mother Mary with her sparkling blue eyes and bright fiery hair and the stories she'd told him of life in England and his family that resided there.

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