Hi! Yeah, so this is my first fanfiction. Be nice, please. Most of this story is based on real expeirences and you might find some song or book quotes. I'm kind of curious to see if anyone finds them. A few are obvious. I hope you enjoy this. If I get some good reviews I might submit another story, but this is strictly a oneshot. I don't think I could do a series of chapters. Thanks if you read my little story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Champloo, but I do own Kawazoe Kumiko, Toyo, Amane, and Tsubaki.

Oh! Almost forgot! I put Kumiko's name in the traditional format of last name first and then the first name. Kumiko means 'eternal beautiful child' and Kawazoe means 'riverside' in case anybody was wondering...carry on.

Some of you might recognize this story as a oneshot, but I split it all up into a series, because one of my friends complained that it was too long to read all at once...

A Place Called Home

"Why am I so cold?" He thought, "So cold…"

He breathed in deeply, only to find his breath cut short by a sudden gasp of pain.

"It feels like I'm moving. What's going on?" He opened his eyes as he thought this and saw a river surrounding him. The water was tainted red and had a few chunks of ice in it.

"Heh," he thought, "That's why it's so cold."

His unconscious form continued to float down the river. At his steady pace, he began to drift towards the bank. Had he been at least half-conscious he would have grabbed on to the nearest branch or rock, but since Murphy's Law always took his toll on whomever it can get its claws on, the man continued down the river.

The village people bustled around Kawazoe Kumiko as she did her weekly errands at the same day and at the same time. Strange that a young girl like her would have such a persist schedule. Every seven days, she leaves her house and rides her horse to get anything she needs. Today, she needs flour and sugar and she had one of her strange and rare urges to eat out. Can you tell she doesn't have much of a social life?

She entered the Ruri Tea house owned by a husband and wife named Toyo and Amane.

"Kawazoe-Chan! So glad to see you! I wish you would come out of that house of yours and visit more often!" Toyo said cheerfully.

"I told you, please, just call me Kumiko." She said smiling. "And besides, I am younger then you, so shouldn't I be the one calling you something in a respectful manner?"

He merely waved her comment away and showed her where to sit.

"Is Amane here?" Kumiko asked.

"No, she has fallen ill a couple days ago, so she won't be in for awhile."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope she feels better."

"I think she would be more disappointed knowing that you came in when she wasn't here then actually realizing she's really sick."

"Actually realizing?" Kumiko repeated.

"Ah, she has been trying to sneak out of bed. You know Amane; so stubborn." He replied with a grin. "What will you have, the same as usual?"

"I don't know why you ask, I always get the same thing!" she said with one of her smiles that made a boy stare.

He nodded happily and was off to fetch what she wanted. As she waited for her little meal, she looked out the window and watched the villagers walk around. She recognized all of them.

"I love this little place." She thought, closing her eyes. "I haven't even been here all that long and everything has been perfect."

"Wow." A voice said behind her.

Kumiko looked around and saw a little boy standing behind her looking at her hair.

"It is yellow." He said amazed.

Kumiko laughed and said, "Well, it does not suppose to be that way. My father was Japanese, but my mother was German."

"German, what is that?"

"Germany. It is a country far, far away. Maybe you will go there someday."

"Miki! Now don't bother the young lady!"

The boy looked up at her sheepishly and said, "Sorry."

"You weren't bothering me, don't worry." She said with a smile.

The boy returned a smile and ran back to his mother. Kumiko saw him say something to his mother and pointed at her hair from a distance. Kumiko smiled again to herself and pretended that she didn't notice. She had a feeling her whole heritage just got told.

"Here you go, my lovely lady!" said Toyo when he brought down a plate of tamagoyaki with a mochi at the side, along with a small cup of tea.

"Thank you, Toyo-kun."

"No problem!" and at that he left.

She ate slowly and continued to watch all the people out the window. She lost track of the time as she finished her meal and sipped on her tea. The boy that was fascinated with her hair waved at her a little when he was to leave. She smiled and waved back.

"Your hair really is pretty." His mother said to her and she left.

Kumiko closed her eyes and giggled inwardly.

"Why did I find that so amusing?" she thought to herself.

She left her dues on the table and started to get up to leave. As she reached the door Toyo stopped her.

"Wait a second, honey."

He held out a box and put it in her hands.

"You need to gain some weight anyway." He said rather matter-of-factly.

"Ha, do I now? You won't take this back will you?"

"No, no I will not."

She shook her head at him and said, "Well thanks then."

"Anytime!" Toyo answered back in a singsong voice.

Kumiko exited the little tea shop with the bento in her hands. After walking a little bit, she peeked inside to see what he had made for her. She smiled and shook her head again. It consist of expensive looking beef, fava beans, a few different types of steamed vegetables, rice, bamboo shoots, and a couple of lotus roots. Kumiko gawked at the sight of it all.

"He expects me to eat all of this!" she said in a disbelieving voice, "Maybe I can find somebody to give it to. Or would that be disrespectful? I mean, he did make it just for me…"

Kumiko sighed, closed the bento, and put it under one of her arms. She continued to walk out of town. Smiling at the other villagers and exchanging pleasantries. At last she made it to the end. She waved once at the man who stood guard. He smiled and waved back; a ritual between them.

"It is going to be dark very soon, Kawazoe-Chan. Be careful walking back!" The guard called to her.

"I will, don't worry!" She called back and then thought, "Why does everybody call me 'Kawazoe-Chan'? If anything, call me Kumiko-kun. Better yet! Just call me Kumiko!"

She silently ranted in her mind as she got onto her horse that was tied up at the stake she kept for him.

"Hello, my beautiful Sonne." ('Sun' in German)

She petted his chestnut fur as they walked along the river. No saddle or bridal for this girl.

Lady Sun was starting to set and Lady Moon was taking her place. She looked up at the darkening sky to see it freckled with tiny stars or "The Moon's children" as Kumiko called them. The Sun's children were the clouds, of course. What a strange imagination, huh? Oh, how Kumiko loved the night! Everything is just so much more beautiful. The moon and her children where dancing on the river's water while the wind was tickling the trees. Everything, save for the wind, water, and sound of horse hooves, was silent. She watched the children dance on the water, but was disrupted when a log came into view. The frowned as she stared at it.

"What a strange looking log." She thought.

She pressed her leg to Sonne's side, signaling him to move towards the water. Her stallion came to the waters edge as she leaned over his neck for a closer look. This was the first time in a long time that she wished it was daylight. She furrowed her brow and squeezed her legs to get Sonne moving, so she could follow the log.

"That log kind of looks like a man!" she thought, "Oh, I hope somebody wasn't killed! That would be so sad."

The man-looking log started to drift over to the shore.

"Oh! Isn't it just a lucky day! Well, not for him if that really is a man." She thought with dark humor.

Kumiko brought Sonne to a stop. She got off of him and waited until the figure got closer.

"Oh no! It is a man!" She thought, "Though I hate touching dead bodies. I could at least, bring him onto the shore."

She grimaced as her hands grasped the man's cold arms and pulled. When she did that, the man sucked in a shallow breath. Kumiko gasped and almost let go.

"He's alive!" She said aloud.

She quickly brought him to the shore and pressed her ear to his chest. There was a faint heartbeat.

She clucked towards Sonne and called his name. Of course, he obliged. Kumiko got up and put her arms under the man's and dragged him closer to her stallion.

"He is heavier than he looks!" she thought.

Adrenaline rushed through her muscles and she heaved the man onto Sonne's back. She too, quickly got on.

She kicked her lightly on her stallion's sides and he immediately went into a canter.

"Hurry, my friend." She said to him.

They galloped as quickly as she could with out dropping the man in front of her. Thankful that Sonne had such a smooth gait.

"What would I do without you my fallen angel of a steed?" she thought to him.

Soon they reached the small house. She dismounted and pulled the man down with her, making sure not to drop him too hard. With her arms wrapped around him she dragged him as fast as possible into the house and into her bedroom. She started sweating as she heaved him as gently on the bed then lifted his legs up after him. She wanted to sit down and let out a breath, but instead started to undo the top part of his kimono. There was blood on her where her arms wrapped around him, so she knew where the wounds were.

She cringed at the sight.

"Maybe it isn't as bad as it seems. It could just be because I can't see well right now."

Kumiko dabbed and wiped away the blood. She then got up and ran into another room. She filled a basin full of water and grabbed a few towels to wrap his cut. She also found an ointment to apply when the cut is nearly closed.

"If it closes." She thought, "No, don't think like that. He will live as long as he is with me!"

Determined, she went back into the room with the wounded man and started to clean away the cut.

"Maybe it isn't as deep as I first thought! Sometimes small, but clean, cuts can admit a lot of blood." She said aloud.

Kumiko laughed bitterly and said, "Who am I trying to convince, you or me?"

She stared at the unconscious man for a second and then got back to work. She bounded some smaller rags to the wounds and wrapped the long towels around them tightly so they don't fall.

With her job finished, she sighed and stared at the man. She looked him down for awhile to see if she missed any other wounds and saw something hooked on a strap of his sandal. She narrowed her eyes and reached over to pull them loose. With a little twist to the side she got them in her hand to examine.

"Now how did his glasses get hooked to his sandals?" she thought with a frown, "Ah, oh well. I don't really care. As long as he is safe, I guess."

She made sure that other parts of his body other than his chest were safe once more, before she got up to get her horse something to munch on. She went outside and opened a barrel to his food. The finest of all grains for Sonne, of course. She scooped some of it up and put it in a wide bucket and made her way to the back of the house where he usually spent the night. She placed the bucket on the ground when he came up to her trotting and nickering happily. He bent his neck down and started to eat. She stroked him a couple of times and then left to go back to the man. When she reached the front door she scanned the area she lived in as usual and spotted the forgotten bento on the ground where she dismounted Sonne.

"I can give that to the man when he wakes up and is capable to eat something as solid. I will make him eat soups at first; that will be more suitable for his condition." She thought to herself.

She knelt down to pick up the bento and entered her house. She placed it on the table and went back into the bedroom. She sat down on the ground near the bed and watched the man. He seemed to be breathing. With her back resting on the wall, her eyes started to droop. She fought against sleep at first, but then stopped her pointless struggle and let her conscious fade.

Author's Note

This will be the only author's note I make. I don't know why...Anyway, I hope you like my first fanfiction!

HimmelsDraculina