Author Ramblings: First (posted) story, so don't kill me too bad, kai? I've actually been writing fanfiction for about three years now, just be glad I didn't touch it before then. *shudders at the thought of chibi-kinetic running around FF.net, posting like a five year old*
Anywho, this takes place around the end of the Revenge Arc, the final arc in the series, covered by the newest movie, I think, Reflections. Now, I was stuck reading translations, but I think I got the gist of it. Some spoilers maybe, but if you don't care, then read on, and tell me what you think.
I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, unfortunately. It'd be nice to have some moneh, especially considering that I'm in college, and can use all the financial help I can get. *chuckles*
Alternate pairing. You have been warned.
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Tears for Tomorrow
Kaoru wandered slowly through the empty dojo, her head hung low. It seemed that everything she'd been a part of for the last year of her life was becoming more and more meaningless as the days passed by. No one had heard from Sanosuke in days, not since the police had shown up and begun asking questions about where he might be hiding. Not even Katsu had a clue where the ex-gangster might have run off to, but Kaoru was sure he was still escaping the grip of the law, otherwise the patrols would have stopped by now. How long could he keep it up though? No one can hide forever. She sighed heavily, and walked into the training room of the Kamiya Dojo. Kenshin had gone out that morning to continue his search for their friend, and yet, even the former assassin couldn't find any clues that might lead them to Sano, either that, or he just wasn't saying anything to her about it. Kaoru laughed at that thought. Looking about, she smiled a little, and began talking to herself, if only to reassure herself that her friend was safe.
"Of course Kenshin would tell me if he found Sano, he means just as much to me as Kenshin and Yahiko, and Kenshin knows that. But still… both Saito and Kenshin are looking for him, and those two are the best that the government has to offer, yet not even they have been able to find a single clue as to where Sano might be. I just hope that Kenshin finds him first…" she finished, her voice trailing off into the wind. She bit her lip lightly, hoping that the infamous 'Wolf of Mibu' wouldn't sniff out her friend first, who knows what he might end up doing to the poor man.
Facing the back wall of the dojo, she fell to her knees in front of the small altar that rested there. Closing her eyes, she tried to forget that her friend's life could be on the line, and she couldn't do anything except wait and hope that something might happen.
"Please…" she whispered quietly, as if hoping her words would be light enough to be carried away on the wind, "Please keep yourself safe Sanosuke…"
The silence around her was quickly broken by the sound of someone snorting, as if disgusted. She jumped to her feet, grabbing a boken off the wall behind the altar. Whirling around, she prepared to defend herself, the wooden weapon held tight in her outstretched arms. As she turned, she asked sharply, "What do you think you're doing in here…"
For a moment, time froze. She looked at the one who had intruded upon her, without announcing their arrival, and she felt herself unable to move. There he stood in the doorway, leaning his shoulder against the frame, that cocky grin plastered onto his face. Kaoru felt time begin to start up again, crawling at first, as he whispered, "…Sano…"
The young man winked at her, and smiled. Walking slowly, he made his way over towards her, and she began doing the same, her pace slow, almost unbelieving. As they neared the center of the room, he spoke.
"Ey Jou-chan, how's it goin?" he asked, his voice light and carefree, as if he didn't know that the entire Tokyo police force was after him.
Kaoru said nothing, continuing to walk. They met in the middle of the room, and stopped, each staring at the other. They stood that way for several moments, neither saying anything. Finally, Sano lifted his hand and waved it in front of Kaoru, a concerned look crossing his face as he asked, "Ey, what's up, whatcha starin at?"
She sighed, and looked into his eyes, then smiled. Sano, taking this as a good sign, smiled back, happy that she wasn't too pissed off at him for just disappearing like he had. However, his relief was short lived.
"SANO NO BAKA!" she roared, cracking the boken over his head repeatedly.
"GAH! God damnit!" he yelled as he turned and ran towards the doors, trying to get away from the insane assistant master who followed hot on his heels, continuing to attack the defenseless rooster-head.
He'd nearly made it to the door, when Kaoru threw the merciless wooden sword at his feet, sending Sano falling, face-first, onto the floor. Hopping over him, Kaoru slammed the sliding doors shut, knowing, if he given the chance, Sanosuke could easily make his escape, but she didn't plan on giving him that much time. She walked over to a very dazed Sanosuke, and, kneeling in front of him, lifted his head off the floorboards. His lip was bleeding slightly, and some of it had already stained the dojo floor. She gave him an evil glare.
"What's the big idea, huh? You've been missing for days, and no one's heard a word from you, where have you been!? Do you have any idea what you've put us through? Megumi has been panicking, wondering if you haven't died, and they just haven't found your body yet! Kenshin's been worried sick, just because he's your friend, Yahiko's been out patrolling with him this whole time, and Tae and Katsu don't know what to think! God, what's wrong with you? Don't you care that there are people who want to know that you're safe and sound, and who worry about you!?" she screamed, taking out days of frustration in under a minute. Sanosuke blinked a few times, then allowed his eyes to meet hers. Was that hurt in his eyes? "Of course not," she thought to herself, "Sano's never cared about what I've said before, why should he now?"
"What about you missy? I didn't hear you mention yourself when you were saying that everyone's been worried about me," he whispered quietly.
Kaoru stared at him for a moment, then snorted, turning her head to the side, as she responded, "Of course I was worried about you, you're my friend, and that's what friends do for each other."
Sano, managing to get his knees to support his weight, lifted himself to a kneeling position, then placed her chin into his hand, turning his wrist slightly so she was facing him again. His dark brown eyes stared into her light blue ones, almost wistfully, she thought. Then, in one swift movement, she found herself wrapped in his tight embrace, his body pressed hard against hers. Not expecting this, it took her a few moments to find her voice.
"Sano…" she began, whispering, "What's going on?"
"…I'm leaving, tomorrow morning," he responded, his voice breaking a little as he spoke.
Kaoru blinked in disbelief, unsure of what to think. She felt her heart break at the words, because Sanosuke, one of her dearest friends, was about to walk out of her life, possibly never to return. She managed to blink back the tears, as she encircled his body with her arms, rubbing his back softly, trying to comfort herself more than anything else.
"Where will you go?" was all she could ask, afraid that anything else might lead to her breaking down into tears. It was already hard enough to hold back the tears, and it became far more difficult with each passing moment.
"China, Mongolia, maybe even as far west as India, where ever the ship decides to take me."
"Sano, you're just going to leave us?"
"I have to. I can't stay here anymore. I don't want you all to have to harbor a criminal, and besides, they will find me eventually if I stay here, so it's the only real option, isn't it?" He chanced a glance back into her soft blue eyes, wincing slightly at the pain he saw in them, the pain he knew he was causing.
"There's nothing else?" Sighing, he shook his head, hanging it in something akin to guilt or shame.
"Unless I want to be imprisoned for crimes I didn't commit, then possibly executed? I don't think that anyone wants that to happen."
Kaoru hugged him tightly, a few tears falling to the dojo floor. Sano frowned, and pushed her away about an arms length. He looked into her gentle blue eyes, seeing them shimmer slightly. He bit his lip, and sighed, realizing he probably shouldn't have come and told her in person, it would probably have been easier just to leave a note in the dojo like he'd planned to originally, describing his whole plan in detail. But seeing her as she'd made her way through the empty dojo, seeming so depressed, he couldn't bring himself to leave with just a note, at least, not her. Kaoru looked away, sniffling slightly, trying to delay the imminent waterfall of tears. Sano took a deep breath, let it out quickly, and readied himself for what he'd decided to tell her.
Quietly, he rose to his feet, pulling the still clinging Kaoru with him. Letting go of her for a moment, he took a few steps back, out of her embrace, running both hands though his hair nervously. She stared at him in silence, lowering her gaze a little, biting her lip again, closing her eyes in a pitiful attempt to save face.
"He'll never know now, not that he would have cared in the first place. It doesn't matter that I love him, how he's always been there for me, for Kenshin, for all of us, how I wish I could tell him, it doesn't matter, because he's going. I wish, I wish I could…" her thoughts jumbled, she hung her head lower trying to hide her frustration, her pain, her sorrow.
"Jou-chan…" he began, his voice wavering a little. "I came here for a special reason tonight, besides telling you all that I'm leaving." He pulled a letter out from his gi, tossing it onto the floor. "I'd originally planned on just leavin this, for everyone, but seeing you… I've been thinkin about somethin for a while now, and I just wanna say…" he stammered over the words, though Kaoru wasn't really listening anymore. All she saw were Sanosuke's lips moving, forming words she couldn't hear.
"I want those," she thought. "I want to feel them all over me. But it doesn't matter anymore, because he's going away, and he'll never, ever return." Suddenly, another thought struck her. "If he's leaving, what have I got to lose? If he rejects me, it won't matter, because I'll never see him again."
She looked at his lips moving again. "I suppose now's the best time." She lowered her head, working up the courage to do what had to be done.
"I suppose, what I'm trying to say is… Missy? You okay?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, touching her cheek.
Kaoru looked up at him at the touch, on the verge of breaking down, biting her lip hard, another attempt to slow the tears. She didn't say anything, but suddenly hopped up on her toes, and slammed her lips against his, kissing him hard, clutching onto the back of his gi, holding herself against him to reach his lips.
Sanosuke was shocked at first, but finally broke down, returning the young kendo instructor's affections, his hands pulling her closer to him, lifting her up off the ground, hands beginning to roam across her back absently. After several moments, they broke their kiss, standing in silence, staring into each other's eyes, each battling with emotions boiling inside them.
Kaoru had thoughts of Kenshin to deal with. What would the red haired swordsmen think of her, and Sano, if he ever discovered that she had betrayed his trust, and kissed his best friend? "He wouldn't be happy…" she thought, clutching tight to Sano's open gi. He might even go so far as to kill Sanosuke in his rage, and she knew that no one other than the government wanted that to happen.
Sanosuke on the other hand, had to deal with both thoughts of his friend's reaction, what this did to his relationships with everyone in the dojo, and the consequences of both leaving, and staying. He knew that staying would only make things worse in the end, Kenshin would end up leaving the dojo, broken hearted, but determined to continue his sacred mission, fighting for equality. Yahiko might stay, or he might leave the dojo to follow his idol, leaving the pair alone, save for Katsu, Tae, and their friends in Kyoto. The kiss didn't change the fact that the government still wanted him though, and staying here would only bring more trouble to his 'little missy'. But by leaving, would he ever find another girl, no, another woman, as perfect as this young lady in the entire world? He could scour the far corners of the earth, and even then, he knew his chances were slim.
"Sanosuke…" Kaoru mumbled into his chest, causing the big man to look down at her. Lifting her eyes, she bit her lip and whispered, "You… you have to go. I love you, but I can't protect you… please, for everyone, go?"
"Why am I pushing him away?" she wondered. "Why is it that I can't accept the fact that he loves me? Is it because all this time I thought he'd laugh at me, mock me, make me feel terrible, and never believed that he would be able to return my affections?"
Nodding sadly, he turned, slowly letting her go, and walked for the door, leaving her with her painful thoughts. He turned at the doorway, and smiled a bit. "You know, I have to come back now…"
She nodded a bit, biting her lip. "You know, I'll be waiting for you…"
Winking a bit, sadness resounding in that usual gesture of his, he turned, and walked out of the dojo. The last thing Kaoru saw of him was the symbol on his back, fading into the gathering fog as a storm began to roll in.
"Aku.." she thought, "the symbol of evil. It really doesn't fit you Sano. When you come back, I'll make sure I take it off myself, I'll show you what you really are under that tough exterior." She smiled at the thought, then sat down, and cried.
Epilogue: Sano never made it to China or Mongolia, the storm from that night kept him in Tokyo for another day, in which time the police were able to catch up to the gangster and place him into custody. Several days later, he was released on request by one Saito Hajime, then mysteriously disappeared for half a year. However, that is another story, not for this time around.
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End Notes: Yeah, I know, I don't know how good it is, but you all probably do. Drop me a review about how much you hate/love/don't understand this paring down below. Flames ARE expected AND accepted, so feel free to burn this thing down to the ground, as long as it's helpful to me to know what I need to work on. If you wanna gimme praise and be all like, "OMG you is so great!" I'll take that too! ^^;;
I'm thinking about working this into a series, mostly cause I love the thought of Sano and Kaoru being together, which would be an impossibly long epic. You should see some of the other things I've been writing. *Nods towards 72 page ficcie* Been workin on dat one fer bout two years now… eyup. Heh, so feel free to drop me a review, even if you didn't like it too much, I love getting praised (and slammed) for my work.
-Kinetic Dream