Rurouni Kenshin is the creation of Watsuki Nobuhiro. No infringement of his rights, or the rights of Sony or Shonen Jump intended.
Alice in Wonderland is the creation of Lewis Carroll, and no infringement of his rights, or the publisher's rights intended, either. This work is intended as an homage to both artists; and if you haven't read the Alice books, go and do it now. Yes, now. 8^) I highly recomment Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice.
Part 1: We're All Mad Here*
The trouble, Kenshin decided, had begun with the pocketwatch and western-style gloves.
Kaoru had won them in a contest and brought them home one fine spring morning, gleeful at her good luck. She had gone to fetch tofu that morning, and had come back not only with tofu, but also with the aforementioned objects and a hungry Sano in tow. From the porch, he had watched as Sano slouched along the path, carrying the tofu bucket, and Kaoru danced around him, her new treasures dangling from her hand. She was in high spirits, and her teasing laugh rang out.
"I told you, Sano, I'm just lucky!"
"Yare yare...I admit it, you're lucky." Sano grinned, a calculating look in his eyes. "But if you want to rub it in a little more, Jo-chan, why don't you come with me this afternoon and we'll see just how lucky you are?"
"Sano!" A brief chase ensued, but since Kaoru was unarmed and hampered by a kimono and geta, Sano emerged unscathed -- mostly. "Mou! I'm sure if I used my luck for that kind of thing, I wouldn't have it long."
She spotted him on the porch then, and ran up. "Kenshin! See what I won!"
She dropped to her knees, offering the objects in her cupped hands for his inspection: a small pair of white cotton gloves, trimmed with lace, and a golden watch on a chain. He lifted them out of Kaoru's hands to look more closely, and his fingers brushed against her palm. She caught her breath and goosebumps ran up her arms...Was she cold? It didn't seem cold to him.
He tilted the watch back and forth, noting the strange English numerals along the edge, the tiny cogs and gears whirring behind the glass face. "It's very nice, Kaoru-dono. Where did you win it?"
"There's a new store opening selling Western imports. They had a drawing...I wish I had won the chocolate instead!"
"No, no... these are very pretty, Kaoru-dono. I'm sure they will suit you." He dropped the watch back into her hands, letting the chain slowly fall through his fingers to coil in her palm.
"Honto ni?" She began to reach for him, but pulled back, the motion so slight that he almost missed it. What was she doing? A disappointed look flashed through her eyes, quickly replaced by her usual cheerful smile. What was wrong? He did a quick inventory: pocketwatch and gloves, undamaged; his friendliest smile, still there; his clothing, also still there and distributed with proper modesty; the sakabatou, still sheathed...What had she been disappointed by? Hmm. Maybe she had been expecting more of a reaction to the watch.
He looked up to see Sano watching them with a knowing grin. What did he look so smug about?
"Yah, ugly, those gloves will suit you...You'll look just like that psycho cop!"
He could always count on Yahiko to break an awkward moment. With a shout, Kaoru was up and the chase was on. Sano sauntered up and leaned against the wall, dropping the tofu bucket in front of him.
*Thud* "Y'know, Jo-chan's persistent, but even the tanuki-girl needs a little encouragement once in a while."
"Oro?"
Sano stalked off toward the dojo, muttering something about baka rurouni who were unable to see what was right in front of them.
The miniature jeering whirlwind that was Yahiko in brat mode spun by him again. "Busu! Be glad you didn't get the chocolate -- you don't want to get even fatter than you are now!"
*Thwack* *Thwack* The shinai-wielding vengeful angel in a kimono that Yahiko in brat mode could always bring out of Kaoru had caught up to the miniature whirlwind. "Fat! FAT! 200 strikes, Yahiko. Now. You..." She sucked in a deep breath. "Ne, Kenshin, you don't think I'm really fat, do you?"
"Oro?"
This was, apparently, the wrong answer. With a snarled "Men!", Kaoru stalked inside.
Yahiko's face turned red, and he looked from Kaoru's retreating back to Kenshin several times. Then he turned, gave a full-force glare to Kenshin, and stormed off to find a shinai.
"Oro?"
Sometimes, living at the dojo was a little like living in a land where everyone had gone mad.
*******
Kenshin was in the kitchen, making onigiri for lunch. Since Kaoru seemed upset about something, he had decided to make the usagi-onigiri to cheer her up. He could hear Yahiko counting strikes in the dojo, with Sano's occasional sarcastic interjections. Everything seemed to be returning to normal as he carefully added the very last vegetable whisker to his culinary creation.
Then he heard her.
"I'm late! I'm late! Mou, I'm late!"
Then he saw her.
She had changed into her hakama and gi. She had fastened the chain of the pocketwatch to her hakama ties, and carried it and the gloves in one hand. And she had two big, fuzzy, floppy bunny ears sticking up from her hair.
She scampered past him, muttering "Late, late, late, late!", and then he saw...the tail. The puffy, rounded white tail that peeked out of the top of her hakama.
"Kaoru-dono...?"
She didn't even turn to answer him as she scampered into the yard. "Gomen, Kenshin, but I'm late. Mou!"
This was, of course, totally unacceptable to Kenshin. Action was called for. Plate of usagi-onigiri in hand, sakabatou by his side, he chased after his usagi-landlady at top speed, one imperative at the front of his mind: He couldn't let Kaoru-dono miss her lunch.
Kaoru seemed to be faster than usual, though. Perhaps it was the large hops she took every few paces, but in any case, Kenshin could not catch up. "Kaoru-dono! Chotto matte de gozaru!"
She hopped straight into a cluster of lilac bushes. He followed, pushing branches out of his way. The bushes must be thicker at the top than they looked, he thought, since it was so very dark under them. "Kaoru-dono?" Forward into the lilac-scented thicket, one step, and another...then suddenly he was falling into complete darkness.
"Ororo!"
And that was when he realized the trouble had begun.
*Including the author. No, I didn't really need a footnote here, but all the other chapter headings had one, and I didn't want this one to feel left out.
Alice in Wonderland is the creation of Lewis Carroll, and no infringement of his rights, or the publisher's rights intended, either. This work is intended as an homage to both artists; and if you haven't read the Alice books, go and do it now. Yes, now. 8^) I highly recomment Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice.
Part 1: We're All Mad Here*
The trouble, Kenshin decided, had begun with the pocketwatch and western-style gloves.
Kaoru had won them in a contest and brought them home one fine spring morning, gleeful at her good luck. She had gone to fetch tofu that morning, and had come back not only with tofu, but also with the aforementioned objects and a hungry Sano in tow. From the porch, he had watched as Sano slouched along the path, carrying the tofu bucket, and Kaoru danced around him, her new treasures dangling from her hand. She was in high spirits, and her teasing laugh rang out.
"I told you, Sano, I'm just lucky!"
"Yare yare...I admit it, you're lucky." Sano grinned, a calculating look in his eyes. "But if you want to rub it in a little more, Jo-chan, why don't you come with me this afternoon and we'll see just how lucky you are?"
"Sano!" A brief chase ensued, but since Kaoru was unarmed and hampered by a kimono and geta, Sano emerged unscathed -- mostly. "Mou! I'm sure if I used my luck for that kind of thing, I wouldn't have it long."
She spotted him on the porch then, and ran up. "Kenshin! See what I won!"
She dropped to her knees, offering the objects in her cupped hands for his inspection: a small pair of white cotton gloves, trimmed with lace, and a golden watch on a chain. He lifted them out of Kaoru's hands to look more closely, and his fingers brushed against her palm. She caught her breath and goosebumps ran up her arms...Was she cold? It didn't seem cold to him.
He tilted the watch back and forth, noting the strange English numerals along the edge, the tiny cogs and gears whirring behind the glass face. "It's very nice, Kaoru-dono. Where did you win it?"
"There's a new store opening selling Western imports. They had a drawing...I wish I had won the chocolate instead!"
"No, no... these are very pretty, Kaoru-dono. I'm sure they will suit you." He dropped the watch back into her hands, letting the chain slowly fall through his fingers to coil in her palm.
"Honto ni?" She began to reach for him, but pulled back, the motion so slight that he almost missed it. What was she doing? A disappointed look flashed through her eyes, quickly replaced by her usual cheerful smile. What was wrong? He did a quick inventory: pocketwatch and gloves, undamaged; his friendliest smile, still there; his clothing, also still there and distributed with proper modesty; the sakabatou, still sheathed...What had she been disappointed by? Hmm. Maybe she had been expecting more of a reaction to the watch.
He looked up to see Sano watching them with a knowing grin. What did he look so smug about?
"Yah, ugly, those gloves will suit you...You'll look just like that psycho cop!"
He could always count on Yahiko to break an awkward moment. With a shout, Kaoru was up and the chase was on. Sano sauntered up and leaned against the wall, dropping the tofu bucket in front of him.
*Thud* "Y'know, Jo-chan's persistent, but even the tanuki-girl needs a little encouragement once in a while."
"Oro?"
Sano stalked off toward the dojo, muttering something about baka rurouni who were unable to see what was right in front of them.
The miniature jeering whirlwind that was Yahiko in brat mode spun by him again. "Busu! Be glad you didn't get the chocolate -- you don't want to get even fatter than you are now!"
*Thwack* *Thwack* The shinai-wielding vengeful angel in a kimono that Yahiko in brat mode could always bring out of Kaoru had caught up to the miniature whirlwind. "Fat! FAT! 200 strikes, Yahiko. Now. You..." She sucked in a deep breath. "Ne, Kenshin, you don't think I'm really fat, do you?"
"Oro?"
This was, apparently, the wrong answer. With a snarled "Men!", Kaoru stalked inside.
Yahiko's face turned red, and he looked from Kaoru's retreating back to Kenshin several times. Then he turned, gave a full-force glare to Kenshin, and stormed off to find a shinai.
"Oro?"
Sometimes, living at the dojo was a little like living in a land where everyone had gone mad.
*******
Kenshin was in the kitchen, making onigiri for lunch. Since Kaoru seemed upset about something, he had decided to make the usagi-onigiri to cheer her up. He could hear Yahiko counting strikes in the dojo, with Sano's occasional sarcastic interjections. Everything seemed to be returning to normal as he carefully added the very last vegetable whisker to his culinary creation.
Then he heard her.
"I'm late! I'm late! Mou, I'm late!"
Then he saw her.
She had changed into her hakama and gi. She had fastened the chain of the pocketwatch to her hakama ties, and carried it and the gloves in one hand. And she had two big, fuzzy, floppy bunny ears sticking up from her hair.
She scampered past him, muttering "Late, late, late, late!", and then he saw...the tail. The puffy, rounded white tail that peeked out of the top of her hakama.
"Kaoru-dono...?"
She didn't even turn to answer him as she scampered into the yard. "Gomen, Kenshin, but I'm late. Mou!"
This was, of course, totally unacceptable to Kenshin. Action was called for. Plate of usagi-onigiri in hand, sakabatou by his side, he chased after his usagi-landlady at top speed, one imperative at the front of his mind: He couldn't let Kaoru-dono miss her lunch.
Kaoru seemed to be faster than usual, though. Perhaps it was the large hops she took every few paces, but in any case, Kenshin could not catch up. "Kaoru-dono! Chotto matte de gozaru!"
She hopped straight into a cluster of lilac bushes. He followed, pushing branches out of his way. The bushes must be thicker at the top than they looked, he thought, since it was so very dark under them. "Kaoru-dono?" Forward into the lilac-scented thicket, one step, and another...then suddenly he was falling into complete darkness.
"Ororo!"
And that was when he realized the trouble had begun.
*Including the author. No, I didn't really need a footnote here, but all the other chapter headings had one, and I didn't want this one to feel left out.