I saw the ending of this manga via the OVA anime and I thought it was lovely. I like doing death recollections so as a result, here you go. After so long of a wait, another one of my little death fics.
When Kenshin had left for a trip a year ago, he took Kaoru's ribbon with him. A loan. Again. He was on his way home, sick and cold, fianlly heading home to his wife and child. Not that Kenji'd be too happy to see him.
He was very sick, and he'd given Kaoru his disease. When he reached his home, there was Kaoru, waiting for him. He fell into her arms. "Kaoru...I came for you."
Kaoru was speaking, but he couldn't tell what she was saying. Her words faded in and out of his ears. He was dying, this was certain. Things began to run through his mind.
How was Kenji? That little rascal that hated him so. But for all the killings he'd commited as Hitokiri Battosai, maybe he deserved it. It was alright in the end. He still loved, and forgave Kenji eternally with every fiber of his soul. This simply happened of itself. A good father never hated his own child.
Megumi would be alright. Kenshin heard Kaoru address him. "Shinta..." He loved her voice and how it expressed that name so well. He then resumed thinking of each one of his friends.
Megumi...as he'd thought, would be alright. She was a lonely being when she's come to the dojo so long ago. But now she had Sano and Yahiko to keep her company. And Kaoru would be there with her. So would Kenji.
Kenshin's thoughts shifted to Sanosuke and Yahiko. Those hotheads had better keep their cool. But Yahiko had grown older and wiser. 15 years of age...he was a man now, no doubt. And if he needed another man's guidance, Sanosuke could take it from there. Especially because one day, Kenshin was sure that Yahiko would be a father. The thought of a playmate for Kenji struck Kenshin's mind, and he smiled.
Kaoru. That one word summed up everything that lay in his heart. He'd fallen in love with her, after she'd been so accepting of him. It was her that welcomed him first, after all, when he'd been nothing but a wanderer repenting for his sins. And he still repented, but now he did so by devoting himself to his friends. Especially her. She was one of those people that had brought him redemption. He was cleansed of his sins. Because of her, Battosai was no more. Through everything, even in the face of the cruel murderer, Jin-e, she'd saved him from the thing that terrified him the most: himself. He'd miss her more than anyone else, but he'd miss Kenji just as much.
His thoughts came around full circle. Kenji. His son, the one that never loved him. But it was alright. To Kenshin, the only thing that mattered was that he had loved his son. He always had, and always would. Death was not an inhibitor of it.
For the last time, as his thoughts faded away with the aroma of cherry blossoms surrounding him, he felt Kaoru hold him lovingly, and a soft voice.
"Shinta, you're so tired, aren't you?" Shinta could no longer talk. Or breathe. His eyes were closed, but his soul remained as she discovered the missing scar. Death relaxed him, as he watched her for a brief minute, crying over him. He knew her time was coming too, for Kaoru grew weak with the illness that her love had given her.
Kenshin's soul remained in that spot for three days. No one saw it but those he'd thought of as he died. Megumi and Sano stared at it. Yahiko smiled at it, sadly. Kenji turned away from it. Kaoru felt it, and knew of it, this was surely true. But she was ill. She saw nothing, too weak to see, half dead when Sano and Megumi found her, still and barely alive near Kenshin's corpse. A day after his death, Kenshin was buried but his soul remained, waiting for something.
The day after, Kaoru died. On the third day she was buried.
On the fourth day, Megumi, Sano, and Yahiko saw Kenshin and Kauro walking away together. At this point, even Kenji could not ignore them. He also stared with them at his dead parents.
On the fifth day, as the sun rose, Kenji ran out to see his parents. There was no one there. Kenji saw nothing, and he was alone. He sat there the entire day, basking in the field of cherry blossoms. But he'd be okay. His parents were no longer in that field, but they left something there for him. In the field of trees that represented love, the love that Shinta and Kaoru had for each other and their son still remained. He'd be safe.
Kilee Drifter
