Rurouni Kenshin doesn't belong to me.

The Start of Something

Kenshin walked slowly towards the prison entrance, glad that Yamagata and Fugita seemed to have accepted his decision not to join them in their war against the Opium dealers. Kenshin didn't want the Opium trade to ruin this new Meiji era any more than they did but he was done fighting and killing people. What he had told Fugita was true; his reverse-edge sword would be sufficient in protecting those around him.

And that was enough.

Still, he had no idea where he was going to stay. He was a wanderer and he barely had any money. He would have liked to go back to the Kamiya dojo, he had liked their philosophy. Who was he kidding? He had liked Kaoru; she had begun to mean something to him although they'd only just met. But he couldn't go back to her home; she probably never wanted to see him again. Not after what she'd heard about him…that he was hitokiro Battousai.

000

Kaoru hurried to the prison, it was raining and very muddy but she had to get there before Kenshin left. Yahiko would be able to handle things…the cleaning up and putting the house back to rights… at least she hoped he would. She had more urgent things to think about; she had to see Kenshin and convince him to come home with her.

She stood outside the prison, in the rain, with another umbrella in her hand, and waited for the big doors to be opened.

She couldn't explain what it was about Kenshin that made her want to…be with him. Not be with him but to help him, she corrected herself…she had to convince him to stay. He had saved her twice already; that was probably the reason, even as she tried to convince herself even as she knew it was more than that.

000

Kenshin walked out of the prison and was surprised…but glad, very, very glad…to see Kaoru standing in the rain waiting for him. He hadn't known what to expect to find outside the doors but seeing her there…it was an answer to an unspoken prayer.

He wanted to rush over to her but somehow his feet were glued to the ground, he could only stare at her in shock. Kaoru rushed over to meet him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I know you have nowhere to stay," she told him, "being a wanderer and all." She took a deep breath and added, "I want you to come and stay with me."

What? Was he hearing right? "No," Kenshin replied immediately. He couldn't do that to her. "You know what I am," he reminded her, walking away from her. "I'd only bring you trouble."

Kaoru followed him. "You saved me and the dojo from those men," she told him. "This is my way of saying thanks."

"You don't need to thank me," Kenshin said. "I was glad to help and now I don't want to cause any more trouble."

"Kenshin," Kaoru told him, "you're not that man anymore."

"You don't know me," Kenshin replied. She didn't know how many people he had killed; she couldn't understand how he had wanted to kill again when he found those men terrorizing her.

"You're right," Kaoru agreed. "But I do know that people can change, they can have a fresh start."

She looked up at her, eyes bright full of confidence and handed him the spare umbrella again. He looked down from the hand holding the umbrella to her face and made his decision, although he knew that he'd made it as soon as he'd found her standing…waiting...for him…outside in the rain.

He took the umbrella and they made their way back to the dojo.

000

What do you think?