AU. Modern. One-shot.

This is dedicated to my cousin. This fic is special to me, kindly give it a chance.

Standard Disclaimers apply.

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They have gotten over the shock of Tomoe's sudden death. It has been three days since the freak bombing accident; the anguished and loud cries of those who grieved have mellowed to that of silent sorrow and pain. Three days into the wake, people still kept on coming, offering their heartfelt condolences and reminiscing about Tomoe: how she had lived her life, how she had been a part of their lives one way or another, how untimely her death was, leaving behind a husband and a two year old daughter.

An hour before midnight, Kaoru was serving crackers and coffee to the guests who have arrived. She had gone past the crying, her eyes were lined with dark circles, a testament of the sleepless nights for the vigil of the dead. She still couldn't believe that Tomoe, her cousin, had really died. It was only a week ago when she had seen her last. Tomoe was the one person Kaoru had idolized while she was growing up. Being seven years older than Kaoru, Tomoe always had that aura that seemed to draw people to her, and possessed the kind of beauty and elegance Kaoru could only dream of. She saw Akira, sitting at one corner talking with a priest while holding his and Tomoe's sleeping two year old daughter. Poor Akira, he had been so in love with Tomoe, his whole world revolved around her. What now of their two year old daughter? The poor thing will only be too young to remember her mother, her kind and genteel mother.

After passing the tray to her aunt, Kaoru decided to catch a glimpse her cousin again. She passed by the different kinds of flower arrangements, sent for her cousin, the scents mingling and overpowering. As she hovered over her cousin's coffin, she secretly thanked the fact that her cousin's face is still intact; her beautiful face was not marred by the accident. For the rest of the body, Kaoru couldn't tell, all she knew from the embalmer was that the bomb had almost mangled Tomoe's body, but had miraculously saved Tomoe's face. Kaoru stared at the rest of Tomoe's form, wondering how ironic it was that Tomoe lay there, dead, wearing her wedding gown. The beautiful piece of cloth which once showed Tomoe at her most beautiful during her wedding day, now concealing Tomoe's disfigured body.

She heard a noise a few feet from behind her. It seemed as though they had a new guest. She turned around and watched Akira's face light up a bit from the gauntness of his grief when he saw who arrived. He carefully handed his daughter to his mother and went to greet the new guest. The new guest was a short, red haired man with a lean built.

"Kenshin!" Akira said his voice pleased.

The newly arrived guest, named Kenshin, walked towards Akira. They shook hands and embraced for a short while. Kaoru watched from afar as Kenshin seriously talked to Akira. She could only presume he was offering his condolences. Akira nodded, and Kenshin whispered something that made Akira smile. It was a sad smile, but it was still a smile nonetheless. She hadn't seen Akira smile since the day of the accident.

Both of them walked towards the casket, bearing Tomoe's body. It was no longer the same Tomoe because it lacked her spirit and her life, but it was the only thing from her that remained aside from the memories. Kaoru stepped aside to let Akira and Kenshin near the casket. And for a split second, her eyes met with the visitor's violet ones. Deep in color, expressing emotion that can only be read as grief. Kenshin, nodded politely at her and Kaoru offered a short smile. She went back to where all the visitors sat. She observed Kenshin and Akira's back while they stared at Tomoe, engaging in small talk once in a while.

She must have dozed off for a while, still seated on the plastic chair. The only thing that woke her up was the companion seated beside her, whom she had apparently leaned against while asleep. She was being shaken gently.

"Miss, miss…"

Opening her eyes, she almost died of embarrassment when she saw it was none other than Akira's friend, the visitor named Kenshin, she was leaning against. She sat up straight, her hands automatically checking if she had any drool and hesitantly looked up at him.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…" Bowing her head in apology, she was prepared to leave when a hand stopped her from standing up.

"It's alright." His eyes held a look which prevented her from getting up and walking away; it was kind, a little tired, but pleasant just the same. She didn't know why, but her embarrassment died and she sat down again.

They were silent for a good five minutes: he was staring at the white casket in front of them while she was observing the other guests share some stories. Kaoru offered herself a glance to the man on her right every now and then. His features were rather interesting, and she vaguely wondered how old he was, for he looked young but his eyes were wise. She looked at her clock and it read 12:15 am.

"Akira tells me you're Tomoe's cousin."

Forcing a glance at him, she responded. "Yes. She was my favorite cousin." Was. Because Tomoe was. She is dead.

"I'm Kenshin." He offered a polite smile.

"Kaoru."

They were forced into silence for a short while, but it wasn't entirely awkward.

"I was in Korea when I heard of the accident on TV. I never knew that Tomoe would be one of the victims. I was only informed the next day."

Kaoru nodded. "I know what you mean. Our family was shocked. I was at the library studying for my board exams when I received a call from my mom."

"What did she say?"

"She was crying, she was worried that I was at the place where… Tomoe…" She couldn't find it in herself to continue, but he seemed to understand. "She was asking if I was alright."

"Did your mom know what happened then?"

Kaoru shook her head.

"It was my brother Sano who told me what happened. We went straight to the hospital where she was brought."

She will never forget that night. Akira had been hysterical with grief, refusing to believe that Tomoe was dead. The crime scene investigators had shown him her picture to identify her, but Akira had adamantly refused, saying it only looked like Tomoe but it wasn't Tomoe. He cried and cried in agony, blaming God, blaming himself, asking why these kinds of things happened.

"You know everything seems so surreal." Kaoru continued, "You think those kinds of things happen in real life, on TV, to other people, but will never happen to you. It was just so hard to believe that something like this could happen to us."

Kenshin nodded in agreement. It took awhile before he replied, completely changing the topic of their conversation.

"Tomoe was my ex."

Her interest piqued, she turned to look at him again.

"Really?" Something told her that he intended to change the dreary subject. He smiled a wistful one.

"Yeah. We were college sweethearts for two years. I introduced her to Akira and sparks flew. I couldn't do anything about it." He shrugged, as if he was used to the idea.

Kaoru was surprised. "Did she cheat on you?"

He laughed at her wide-eyed expression. "No, she didn't. But meeting Akira made her change her mind about us, I think."

"Oh." To say she was in disbelief was an understatement. Who would have thought of it? Tomoe and Akira… What seemed more surprising was that Kenshin didn't seem to be bitter about it at all.

"At least you're not bitter about it." She voiced her thoughts.

He laughed at that, the sound rich and warm, made her smile as well.

"I was bitter for two years before finally being able to forgive and move on."

"That must be the reason why I didn't see you at the wedding."

"No, not really. I was in London at that time, finishing my Masters. I would have come, I was asked to be the best man, but I couldn't because I was in the middle of exams."

"Too bad you missed it. Their wedding day was incredible. Tomoe looked so beautiful and the program was just perfect, Akira couldn't take his eyes off her."

He glanced at her briefly and chuckled. Kaoru was a little bothered.

"What?" She asked, a little annoyed.

"Why what?"

"Are you making fun of me?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

"You were laughing at what I said."

"No, I just thought it funny, how you described the wedding."

"What's so funny about it?"

But Kenshin merely shrugged as if not intending to answer the question. Kaoru though a little irritated decided not to pursue her curiosity. She was at a funeral and it was not the place to pick up on an argument. The thought suddenly seemed childish given the circumstances.

"I really wished I could have come, I wanted be there as their best man." His voice suddenly sounded so far away, tinged with a lot of regret.

"I think it's admirable you decided to forgive them."

Kenshin sighed, "It's not as grand when you're the one suffering from it." He gave her a pointed look. She nodded in understanding and he continued on:

"It's not really about deciding to forgive them. It just came out naturally. They were my two best friends and losing both because of being unable to forgive would be losing too much."

"You're probably right." Thoughtfully, she imagined what it must have been like for the man to give up his love to his best friend. It was too painful a subject. In one way or another, they all lost Tomoe, to this accident which was all beyond their means. Kaoru could only imagine Akira blaming himself for taking Tomoe away from Kenshin. If only Tomoe would have ended up with Kenshin…

"What are you thinking?" He nudged at her slightly.

"I was just thinking about you."

He raised an elegant brow, "Oh, really?" He smiled.

She rolled her eyes. "I meant I was thinking about what you went through. I couldn't imagine being that forgiving if I was in your place."

"Ohh – that thing. Yeah." He chuckled again.

Kaoru swiftly changed the subject, "Akira probably blames himself for what happened."

Kenshin nodded in agreement, "I told him it wasn't his fault Tomoe fell in love with him. He made her happier than I ever could." At this statement, his eyes misted, and Kaoru's heart went out to him. She held his left hand as if to give comfort. His hand was bigger than hers, calloused yet warm. It felt right, giving comfort to someone else, notwithstanding the fact that she barely knew him.

And in that moment, two complete strangers found something which united them – death of a beloved. Her death seemed to have caused a need, to share that sorrow to someone who felt the same sense of loss. They did not notice how long they sat there, holding on to each other, linked by their hands and their grief. Even in silence, it was enough. There was unusual comfort in knowing that death can bring a sense of togetherness to those who shared the same pain.

From a short distance, Kaoru saw her mother waving at her to come over. Signaling Kaoru that they should be going home.

"I should get going." Kaoru said, breaking the moment. Kenshin looked at the direction of her gaze and understood.

They both stood up, not knowing exactly what to say. For the first time since they met that evening they felt the awkwardness sink in.

As they looked at each other, Kaoru realized that she did not want to go. For whatever reasons, she did not know…

He smiled at her and she nodded her farewell.

Just as she took a few steps away from him, a hand stopped her from walking further away. She turned around to meet his gaze.

"Thank you."

She nodded and without hesitations he asked:

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow"

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Owari

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Notes: I'm from a country which holds a wake for a week before the burial, with a casket open during the wake (with a glass pane, of course).

This story probably bored you to death, because there wasn't much romance. It was something I wanted to write in memory of a cousin who died a year ago to similar circumstances. This story was 70% based on true events. Sort of my way of remembering her. Please review.