Fragility
By Kaolla Nyrrat
Part 1
They say that time heals all wounds. But if a wound runs so deep into an animal or a person, if it goes so deep that it can't be healed, will the mind of that person or animal suffer forever? Or will it simply die? Is the mind and body really that forgetful? Is it really that cruel to simply get over it and move on…even if that moving is with a hobbling, broken heart? I ask you this. What will happen if the strain is too much? Will that damaged heart be able to bear the unfathomable weight and strain put upon it, never letting it rest? Or will it strengthen, more powerful and sure as ever?
Sano cradled him in his arms, nuzzling his beauty. God, he smelled good. Both their bodies were slick with sweat, but that kind of sweet-smelling sweat, the one that comes right after you've made love. His lover turned over in his sleep, snuggling closer to Sano's warm bare chest, curling the blanket tighter around the both of them. He couldn't help but smile. Sano leaned in even closer, and said barley above a whisper in his ear, "I love you". At that exact moment, his lover awoke, and looked directly into Sanosuke's eyes with the beautiful, deep violet eyes of his own. The kind you could easily get willingly lost in.
"I love you too, Sano"
He hugged him even tighter, and said softly, "Thank you".
They fell into a comfortable sleep, both holding the other.
It was a hot day, too hot. Even though the street was as busy and crowded as ever, there seemed to be an air of fatigue drifting over Tokyo, affecting everyone that dared to go out of the shade or even out of their home. The sun drifted overhead, punishing anyone that dared to say a bad word about it, like an evil tyrant would to his subjects.
However, the heat would have to be ignored at the moment. In a few day's time, it would be the time of the Cherry Blossom Festival, and there was NO time to worry about the heat. Everyone was in a rush: Both men and women were rushing up and down the streets to different stores, and carts full of fireworks, supplies and foods were pushing their way through the people packed into every inch of the main streets. But entwined in all of this mayhem, there were two individuals that weren't in any hurry, and that seemed to be the only ones that weren't in dire need of a good picnic spot.
They were two men, one with brilliant red hair, tied back to a long ponytail, with a maroon over katana and a reverse blade sword at his hip. He had a bright, calm face with a peculiar cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, and seemed to be looking for a particular something within the crowd. The young man walking next to him was lean and muscular. He had short, spiky brown hair, and had a red headband around his head. He wore no shirt, but instead wore bandages around his lower torso, his white (KN: is it a jacket? Or more of a over shirt?) jacket wore the "evil" symbol on the back, and he had white pants that were plain and white, like his jacket. He was very tall, especially in comparison to the man he was walking next to. He had harder features on his face, making the other man look even more feminine than he already was, and didn't seem to want to be there at all, as he plainly showed by casting annoyed looks at everyone, swinging his head back and forth. But these men's wild hair and striking facial features was not their greatest asset. They had each other.
"Geez, Kenshin. Where the hell are you taking us anyway?" Asked Sano, lifting his arms over his head for a stretch.
"Have some patience, Sano. We're almost there" Said Kenshin, narrowly side-stepping a young boy getting dragged along by his mother. Sano heaved a great, dramatic sigh, but kept following at Kenshin heels. After making their way through an elaborate and fast-paced maze of people, Kenshin came to a screeching halt in front of a small store with a HUGE display glass called "Jewel Fruit". Jewelry. Great. Sano actually had to twist his body, and had part of his chest over Kenshin's head to stop him from crashing into the guy, balancing on his tiptoes.
"We're here!" Kenshin said brightly, stepping forward and going right into the fruit shop. But Sano didn't follow him in. He didn't like going into such…. feminine places, like this for instance. Rings, perfume, necklaces, flowers and earrings. Perfect. Just perfect. Kenshin stood there, holding the door open for Sano to join him, but he said, "Uh, no thanks. I'll just wait out here for you. Make sure you don't take too long though." Kenshin said nothing, but let the door close by itself, and gave Sano a small smile before he dove into the fruity shop.
Hmmm…. those rings sure were um, shiny. My, that necklace was…necklacy? Oh, and look at that pretty bottle of perfume. Yeesh, and look at the pretty price. Oy, and that bouquet was…AAA Crap!!! Where the hell was Kenshin?? He had been in there for 20 minutes already! People were starting to stare at him, now that he had exhausted his excuse of looking at everything in the display. But now that he, a grimy-looking guy that had dirt all over him, was just standing awkwardly outside out a shop that should have had flowers and pink ribbons on its roof, he just kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, trying not to get even more impatient. It wasn't working very well, especially with that damn sun frying him. He closed his eyes, and turned his head so that there was only a little sun going on his neck. Whew, that felt better. He closed his eyes, not trying to keeps track of time, not trying to get impatient again. The door of the frou-frou store swung open, and Sano was actually surprised to see Kenshin looking up to him, as if waiting for him to notice him standing there when he opened his eyes.
"You're finally out! What took you so long? Taken hostage or something? I was ageing out here." Sano said sounding fairly annoyed.
"Aw, com'on Sano, it wasn't that long, was it?" Kenshin said, turning away from Sano, about to walk off.
"HIYA KENSHIN!"
"OROOOO!!!!"
From the looks of it, Kenshin had nearly had a heart attack when Yahiko had somehow materialized out of the crowd, and kind of pounced on him. Yahiko just stood there laughing his heart out, tears streaming down his eyes, while Kenshin tried to calm his breathing.
"Um, Yahiko that wasn't very nice of you to do that, that it wasn't." He said, his voice wavering and cracking. As he lifted his arm up to rest it upon Yahiko's head, Sano noticed for the first time that he had a small pink bag in his hand. But before he could even make a peep,
BAAM!
"AAUUUGGGHH!! You ugly girl!! What'd you go and do that for, huh?!" Yahiko said, hugging his head, no longer tears of laughter on his cheeks. Kouru had arrived, and she had apparently grabbed his own wooden sword and knocked him upside the head with it.
"Oh, shut up. You know your not suppose to do that, you little brat" Kouru said in her usual 'angry' tone.
" What'd you call me, stupid girl?!"
"What was that!! You are to refer to me as 'assistant master'!"
"Yeah, when pigs fly, you UGLY GIRL!"
"DON'T CALL ME UGLY GIRL, YOU DEMON CHILD!!"
I'LL CALL YOU WHATEVER I WANT, STUPID!!"
"YOU LITTLE BRAT!!!!"
This probably would have continued until…well, forever unless it was for Sano, who kind of pulled and lifted the two 'bickering animals' up and apart, holding them by the backs of they're clothes. When they had realized that Sano was there, they actually paused their fighting to look up at him.
"Ok, first of all, stop fighting, will ya? Second, why are you both down here? And third, why are you coming over here, fighting and bothering us?" He had said that last part through clenched teeth.
At this point, both Kouru and Yahiko were staring at Sano wide eyed, and when they said nothing, Sanosuke simply sighed and let them crash to the ground. Kouru wouldn't like that. Neither would Yahiko.
"Heh-heh. Now now Sano, there's not need to start a fight." Kenshin said, fanning his hands.
"Anyway, Kenshin, what are you and Sano doing over here?" Yahiko said, getting up and nodding towards the she-she store.
"Yeah, I was wondering that same thing." Kouru said.
"Isn't that the new Jewelry store?" Yahiko said.
"They don't just sell jewelry, they sell…"
Both were beginning to creep into a deep conversation with Kenshin. Sano REALLY didn't want to start talking about the dang store he had just spent 20 minutes in front of, being embarrassed and hot and bored, so he began to walk off.
"Sano! Wait!"
He turned to see Kenshin walking up to him, and he quickly shoved the package into his hands "Take this for me, will you?" He asked while wrapping Sano's own fingers around the package. Before Sano could ask what this was about, Kenshin leaned up, gave him a kiss on the junction of his neck and jaw, waved him good-bye, and trotted off back to Kouru and Yahiko. Sano was momentarily stunned, but he snapped out of it when a young man accidentally bumped into him.
"Excuse me." He said, then hurried off.
"Yeah, whatever." He mumbled to himself, and turned on his heel, heading towards to bridge. To his utter amazement, the bridge had only two other people on it. Probably because everyone else was too busy to have leisure time at the moment. Standing side-by-side, there was a young man and woman, gazing into the water below. "You know, in America, people give each other rings, to show their proposal of marriage. " The young man said, leaning towards the girl. She giggled and playfully pushed the man away. Sano paid them no regard, walked to the very middle of the bridge, leaned on the railing to the far left, and looked at the cool water under him. For a moment or two, he was content with watching the water flow, and watching his own reflection smile up to him, but then he abruptly became bored, and started to fiddle with his fingers. What was that? He looked into his hand and looked at the little bag in his hands and curled his lip at the intricate designs that curled around the entire thing. Ugh. He even hated the bag from that stupid store. He tore into it, and saw a little, velvet covered black box. He opened it. There was a single ring inside, silver and beautiful, with "To my one and only Sano" engraved in it. At first, Sano just sort of looked at it in awe. But then he realized what the couple had just been talking about.
He nearly wet himself, to say the least. He literally gave a little hop and high-pitched scream right there on the bridge, but calmed himself, (looked around to see that no one saw him) and tenderly took the ring out of its holder. It slipped in his hand, and it kept doing to, until it was a show of the ring going into the air, Sano desperately trying to catch it, the ring slipping out of his reach each time, leading him all about the bridge. It slipped to the ends of his fingers, and was far enough from the railing of the bridge to fall over it. Sano had to move like lightning to make sure it didn't go into the water, and he barley made it, for the ring was at the very tip of his finger, lazily hugging it, while half his body was leaned over the bride. He was balancing on his hips. Gulp. Sucking in a lungful of air, he was able to fall back onto the bridge, and fall flat on his butt.
"Well, that defiantly wasn't a smart thing to do." He said to himself while tucking the ring back into its holder, the holder into the bag, and the bag grasped firmly in his right hand.
Time to go back to the dojo before he did something else stupid. His whole walk home, he thought of nothing else but Kenshin, the ring, and yesterday night. (KN: ;- )
"Heeeeyy!! Kenshin! Kouru? Yahiko!! Anyone here?" Sano shouted, looking for someone that might be able to lend him some money. He was supposed to meet up with the guys for some gambling tonight, and maybe sake afterwards. He was walking down the hall towards the little missy's room, and as he was nearing it, he could hear voices coming from inside it. Great! Kouru was in there talking to Yahiko. He was about to slide the door open and greet them, when he stopped short, his fingers on the door handle.
"Kenshin, I've been wanting to tell you about my feelings for the longest time." Kouru's voice said, almost a whisper. Sano's heart skipped a beat, as he realized that there was NO way Yahiko would be in there. Her voice was very quite and concentrated as if there was nothing that could stop her from getting this out anymore. Sano slide the door over to the left by the tiniest bit, because he knew that Kenshin would be able to notice. It shocked him that he didn't know already. Sano peered inside, but was only able to see the back of Kenshin's head, but could see Kouru sitting directly in front of him. There was a single candle that made it difficult to see, and that cast a romantic glow on everything.
"Kenshin, I've realized that ever since I met you…I-I've loved you from the bottom of my heart. I don't ever want to lose you. That's why I'm asking you…do you love me back?"
Sano could visibly see Kenshin stiffen, the next instant softening back down, almost as if he had expected her to say those words. He didn't say anything, and Kouru's face was blank and unreadable. But as if on queue, she came forward, getting closer and closer to Kenshin. He made no motion to stop her, but instead tilted his head, watching her. They're heads were now far too close. As Sano's own heart began to thump uncomfortably in his chest, it seemed to cry out in a painful death as Kouru and Kenshin kissed. It seemed as if things all around seemed to go into slow motion, and he could see Kouru slowly wrap her arms around him, sliding her hands up his back as she made her way to his head, where they lightly pulled the thin cloth out of Kenshin's hair. It flowed onto both their shoulders, and he could see Kouru lean them both to the ground, still lip-locked with him. He abruptly pulled her mouth away from his, and looked up to her.
"Miss Kouru, I think you should know. I've known about your feelings for quite some time. And the truth of the matter is…I like you."
