Title: Only Water
Word Count: 446 (I lurve teh drabbles…)
Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin
Pairing: Kenshin & Kaoru
Rating: G
Disclaimer: none
Summary: There are no exciting swordfights, possible coupes, or dramatic realizations here; just the sound of rain beating as quickly as his heart.
AN: I tried to make the writing in this story fit with the gentle nature of Kenshin's personality… I also wanted to show how complex emotions can be conveyed without words or overt actions, which is a dominant theme in the series (and reflects on the time period in which the series takes place). Haven't ever written for RK before but have loved the series for many years… feels good to finally pay one of my favorite couples tribute!
Hope you enjoy.
Only Water.
He sits underneath the overhang in front of the dojo, safe from the oncoming sheets of rain, and silently delights at the sight of an assistant master and her student looking like drenched rats in the courtyard. She lets out a cry of dismay before raising her arms over her head to keep the water out of her eyes.
"I can't believe this, it was so sunny a second ago…" she mutters. He cannot hear her, but can read the irate words forming on her lips through the cool mist. She turns to glare at her pupil, eyes burning into his back. "Don't just run away, Yahiko! Make yourself useful for once and grab the training dummy before you go anywhere else!"
"What do you mean, 'for once?'" he yells back, eyebrow twitching as he grabs the straw dummy. "And don't scowl like that, you look uglier than usual!"
"YA-HI-KO!" The boy runs off before she can strangle him, laughing, and she scowls again before turning to walk back with a sigh.
The rain and the mist do nothing to cloud her bright, sharp eyes as she makes her way toward the dojo with a set mouth. Her black hair, pulled into its usual ponytail, has mostly come undone and tendrils of it frame her flushed face. She looks like a fierce warrior on a rainy battlefield. He can only stare. She notices him staring at her, and her face becomes even more flushed.
The sound of rain is in his ears, and she hears her heart beating; he stands up slowly and walks out to her as she stops in her tracks.
"Mou," she says softly, watching him as he watches the words on her lips. "You're going to get wet too."
He loves her contradictions: he loves the fierce look in her eyes and the shy smile on her lips, the calluses on her hands and the smoothness of her skin; how her lonely expression compelled him to walk out to her in the rain, and now her words try to disguise her emotions.
"It's only water," he smiles. He stops in front of her, his own calloused hand reaching to brush wet bangs away from her face.
"Only water," she echoes, her eyes impossibly bright. "Kenshin?"
"Yes, Kaoru-dono?" She smiles lopsidedly, pretending to wag a finger at his nose.
"Don't blame me if you catch fever, then." He smiles, takes her hand and squeezes it gently, then presses his forehead against hers.
"I won't."
The skies are grey and the rain is still coming down in sheets; she wishes the rain would never stop, so long as she can stay here with him.
I might make this story a set of vignettes or leave it stand-alone. We shall see.