This is slowly becoming a labor of love for me. I have only ever written one-shots for RK up until now. This has been brewing for some time on paper *gasp* yeah...I know archaic. I guess everyone is just lucky I'm not banging it out on stone tablets! I don't know exactly what happens at the end of Jinchuu, so bear with me. From the manga I know that there is quite a space of time between the end of Jinchuu and the actual end of the story where everyone goes their separate ways. I don't know what Kaoru was told and how quickly, mostly because I'm still waiting for the wonderful and talented Maigo-chan to finish her translation. I want to thank Calger first for letting me read her manga, without her I'd be "Sano" lost. Maigo-chan I would like to thank second for giving the manga meaning to someone who reads only a little of a beautiful foreign tongue. Well, enough babbling...On with the show!!!
This gets off to a slow start, but I swear that it'll pick up real soon. The first chapter is sort of a flashback/intro/exposition to the guts of the story. Yes spoilers abound. This is post-Jinchuu! I repeat POST! : ) Anyhoo. I hope everybody likes it. I'm a bit devilish, you'll see why in a bit.
The Long Road Home
Chapter 1
Ranma1517730129
She had been sweet. Sweet like the sake in the spring. Dark hair: like midnight on the longest night of the year. Her eyes: pools, dark also, so deep and savoring.
"They were almost just like mine. We shared so much, how could we not share now? How is it possible for life to go on without her sweet innocence?" Or maybe she wasn't like that anymore. It had been so long ago. Hiko shouldered his pack and left the solitude of his mountain once more.
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Kenshin lay in the room he had truly begun to call his own. He had almost completely healed from his fight with Enishi, but his Jinchuu still left pain etched on Kenshin's soul that no amount of time could heal. Scars he could deal with, in some ways they blanketed him. Scars were a reminder of the darker days that would follow him to the gates of eternity. Almost every day since the end of the Bakumatsu no Doran was a penance for the days of slaughter in his past. Ten long years that somehow still lived in the shadow of five. He had been tired, weary beyond words.
Then, somehow in Tokyo he had walked out of the darkness and into the heart of the sun. She was life, and everything she did was awash in laughter and understanding. Everyone she touched seemed to hold on for dear life. How could someone hold so much joy and yet be so lonely? When it flashed in her eyes, the loneliness and sorrow, it was almost unbearable. When Kenshin first came to the Kamiya dojo he decided his next destination would be somewhere far away. Okinawa perhaps, somewhere far away from this girl, this ball of energy that stirred such longing for home in his heart. Turning his back on the beautiful young kendoist was hard but not impossible. He, Hitokiri Battousai, didn't deserve such light outshining its darkness. In that moment, however, her loneliness bared itself. Her soul cried out to another turned back. "Please don't, don't go, you're my last hope." Then she asked Kenshin, no the Rurouni, to stay and there was nothing left of his resolve to say no.
He had ended his wandering that day, and each new day seemed to bring new joy. Soon after, Yahiko walked into their lives, another reminder to Kenshin of what home and family were like. Yahiko somehow maintained his childish innocence despite his desire to remain strong. Kaoru had a student again, and Kenshin watched her loneliness begin to ebb away. However, it seemed that his confusion would now rule the day. His heart was losing its desire to wander. Oh, his penance was always fresh in his mind but now it seemed that the need to protect was projecting itself ever more on a certain longhaired Kendo instructor. That was when they found Sanosuke. Of course, it wasn't that easy, but Sano had been so full of pain. He still left the reminder of that pain on his back "AKU" for the entire world to see, but now it was a pain that might heal. Eventually they found that Sanosuke was full of pride and ever so protective of his friends. It was as if they had all been fated to find one another, to find a second chance at life in an old run-down dojo. All orphans, trying to learn how to live in the new era.
One after another, people walked into their lives. Megumi, Tae, Tsubame, Aoshi and the Oniwabanshu, some good, some not so. Most had come seeking Kenshin specifically: Yamagata, Jine, Saitou. Thinking of the fight with Saitou was always hard, because it had been the beginning of the end. It had killed him to leave them. Shishio had to be stopped, but it was still one of the hardest things he had ever done. He thought briefly about leaving a note, anything to spare himself the additional pain of seeing Kaoru cry. But no, he would endure it because he deserved to take her torment with him. He had caused her the pain; he would have to live with her feelings of betrayal. Besides that, he had to see her one last time. If he was to die let it be with her image burned into his soul. She begged Kenshin to stay, but there was no anger. Just that same loneliness that asked "Why? I thought we were happy together." He was just going to thank her and leave, one foot after another set down on the cold road, but he found his body betraying him and running on its own without his consent. Before he could react, his arms were around her, holding her as close as he dared, and he felt more than saw his eyes close. He could see her perfectly without his eyes. This was the moment he grafted onto his soul. Warm...she was so warm, and she smelled of the sweetness of spring. And dear God, if he hadn't let go when he did he would never have found the strength again. So he had, and each step took him farther. He heard the rustle of cloth and his own name whispered through tears. Battousai was being summoned back out of the darkness however, and Kyto was no place for his family.
Understandably the Rurouni found himself only slightly shocked that, during one of his shishou's more prolific rants about his inadequacies as a deshi, Misao Yahiko and Kaoru herself burst in to argue his side. Once again, Kenshin's feelings warred within him. How dare she follow him here to this place of danger and death? "Misao-chan, Yahiko, Kaoru-dono." How could she put herself deliberately in harm's way? Shishio was killing guarded statesmen for breakfast. Yet here she was, and her closeness was a thing of wonder to him; the sight of her was like water to a man in the desert. He wanted to hold her close and kiss her silly, or hold her close and slap her silly, so he opted for neither and went to the well. After that, he saw no trace of her until his return to the Aoiya, and very little even then. The fight with Shishio and his men was long and hard. It was as if he had put out an ad for the strongest psychopaths in Japan. Somehow, he fought his way through; each opponent stronger and more misguided than the last. Sanosuke was at his side throughout, proving once and for all that he was one of the truest friends that Kenshin had ever made. Saitou was also there beside him to preserve the peace, to destroy evil instantly, as was his lot. Bitterest of rivals brought together in the name of Japan and her people. He somehow defeated Soujirou and saved Aoshi's soul from a final step in the wrong direction. He had almost failed in the end. Shishio was still fresh and lay in wait ahead, but Kaoru, or her image, called out to him. He wouldn't disappoint her again, and so he fought on. He had to fight Shishio, he had to fight and win. Kaoru had saved him again, saved him from the darkness twice. Then, with Shishio dispatched, he fell headlong into oblivion. It would be awhile before he healed, and a month before they returned to Tokyo. Return they did though, and home felt so good. Home. Home. Home...no matter how many times Kenshin said it, it would never get old, and as he looked at Kaoru's smile, he hoped that perhaps his heart could find a home as well.
Peace and hope were yet denied the Hitokiri turned Rurouni however. Enishi. An angry boy turned bitter, desperate man, so full of hate and rage for what and who Kenshin had been. His Tokyo family would now have to know the whole truth. Telling them his past had been hard, each new revelation, his role as a hitokiri for the Ishin Shishi from the beginning. He told them about how he left his Shishou, about how he had joined the Kihei-tai and was recruited as hitokiri by the IshinShishi, and finally about Tomoe.
"Tomoe," Kenshin whispered her name and smiled remorsefully up at the stars through the open shoji as he sat. "I wonder if we could have ever been truly happy, I would have liked to try. Maybe you could have saved Enishi from himself, he did truly love you."
Her heart had changed so much in their short time together. The winter that year had been so cold and bitter, yet somehow it was as if a sort of spring were entering Tomoe's heart. She had brought him meaning when life had slowly all but taken his. They had only consummated their marriage one time, as fate would have it right before her death.
He blushed slightly as he thought about it. "A moon-struck experience as I remember it." He hadn't known how to react when she'd reached for him that night. The cold moon reminded him of the way her skin had looked and a shiver ran down his spine. He decided this night was better left to one issue at a time. But for that night, their souls had joined and Tomoe had seemed so young, innocent and hopeful. He wished he had known what she had been hiding, they could have fought together. One day, perhaps she could have forgiven him.
When Kenshin had finished the story of his past, his friends were in shock. It was quiet in the dojo for some time after. Kenshin searched the eyes of his friends for hatred but there was none. He searched Kaoru's face for repugnance but found only sadness, perhaps pity and something he couldn't name. He only prayed they wouldn't reject him. The Kenshin-gumi, it seemed, would never let him down.
Enishi had planned his Jinchuu well. Each person he touched was hurt in some way or another. Yet right before Enishi was expected, Kaoru had asked him to stay again, to stay with her.
"I wanted nothing more." Kenshin hung his head and returned to his musings.
He found her "body" in the dojo and his mind whirled. It wasn't possible; the sweet, kinetic girl he had just promised to stay with had just left him forever. The cross scar etched into her cheek bled and the eyes left open stared out at the world almost in accusation. The only thing that kept the corpse from falling was the watto stabbed straight through her heart. Kenshin's horror finally dissipated enough for one thought to shine through the haze. He would die with her. There was nothing else to do and his soul left to give chase as his feet took him to Rakuninmura.
He flinched at the memory. He had left so many people behind in that moment, but it hadn't mattered. Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu had failed him again. It was useless to save the ones he loved.
He'd starved himself; it was first thing he'd been aware of, truly aware of, since Kaoru's death.
No, she hadn't been dead. If someone had told him a year ago that the spirit of his dead wife would come to tell him that he hadn't failed to protect Kaoru he would have thought they were nuts. He smiled, "Then again, I think I was out of my mind. But thank you anyway, Tomoe."
He saved Yahiko, went to get some decent sleep, about a week's worth, and then went with the small army they'd collected. He had almost been relieved to see Saitou alive...almost. Well, at least for Tokio's sake, whoever the woman was.
They found themselves on an island: Aoshi, Misao, Sano, Saitou, Yahiko, Megumi and himself. Thugs were sent first, and then Enishi made his appearance, but when Kaoru came stumbling through to the forest edge he remembered her warmth before Kyoto and once again he fought for her. The battle was a long one and in the end, Tomoe's memory did sort of save Yukushiro Enishi. Scores of wounds were bleeding heavily, old wounds reopened. Enishi had refused to stop, that was of course when things went from bad to worse. One of Enishi's thugs pulled a gun. Kenshin thought that history was going to repeat itself. He heard the gun go off, he felt the first bullet bury itself in his shoulder. She screamed, ran, and somehow put herself between the gun and him. Time slowed down to a horrible crawl. He would not have been able to save her; Enishi did. The irony was not lost on him; the same situation had played itself out, but this time Enishi could stop it. The fight did eventually go out of Enishi, but it had left Kenshin as well. The world had started to go dark, and Kenshin had waited for the ground to meet him. "Oro?" was all he could manage when Kaoru's strong arms caught him. It was as if Kenshin had found heaven.
Everything had gone quickly after that. Megumi returned to Aizu to start a practice of her own and continue the search for her parents. Kenshin wondered at how calmly Sanosuke had said goodbye. He'd always been quite dense when it came to people and their relationships, but he'd noticed the affinity the streetfighter had had for the lady doctor.
Questions...Kenshin had a few he'd like to ask Sano right now.
In the moment of their parting however fate played Sano an interesting hand, in that same instant Megumi left for Aizu, Sagara Sanosuke walked out of their lives as well. He had caused some sort of disturbance and he was going to leave the country for awhile. The next morning Kenshin and the rest of their small family went to see him off for real. Kenshin had no doubts that they would see him again; it was Sano's way. Saitou crawled away to wherever it was that he crawled, ignoring their final duel. Kenshin buried the hatchet that night. There was nothing left to do, besides, Saitou had helped return the light in his life. Maybe one day he would fight Saitou again but life had allowed him this little peace, and so he took it without question. Aoshi and Misao had left on the road for Kyoto a little before Megumi and Sano. They were going to bring their departed friends home. Misao had almost begged Aoshi to stay at the Kamiya dojo for a month until Aoshi alluded to their friends. She had been ready for travel home within the hour. They left for Kyoto together. Kenshin wondered at the events of the past year. Winter was coming and with it the New Year. He wondered at what could possibly happen to top this year's chaos, and then decided that peace and quiet would be the ultimate gift.
Despite the fact that he was the healing invalid who'd been warned away from all sword activities, Kenshin decided to make a round of the dojo. It was quiet. Yahiko had gone to bed early and so evening practice with Kaoru had been cancelled. Yahiko was still acting strangely around Kaoru and himself, and in this instance Kenshin understood his feelings. It was like being around two recently animated ghosts. He resolved himself to speak with Yahiko in the morning.
So absorbed was he in his thoughts that he didn't notice the form watching the stars in front of him until it was too late. He was falling; he thought wearily about his arm and tucked it immediately behind his back. Oh yeah, this was going to hurt. Then he realized the article he'd tripped over had been feet. The unsuspecting body, not the ground, was coming to meet him. A body, now identifiable as Kaoru, shrieked.
"Eyahhhhhhhhhhh!"
"ORORO!?" Kenshin threw out his arms and legs, catching himself inches from the obstacle/stargazer. He allowed himself a momentary pat on the back for his agility, then noticed the extremely close proximity to the object of his evening's quandary. He would be lying if he didn't admit his blush, and he wondered if he was as red as his hair. That was when the tiny adrenaline rush gave out; his arm screamed angrily at him and gave way. "Itai!" The left side of his body crashed down on Kaoru and the sentiment was duly noted. He rolled to the side, cradling the proffered limb, wishing he could disappear; this was embarrassing.
"Kenshin! Are you alright?!" She had crawled to his side some time while he was attending his arm.
"I'm fine, Kaoru-dono." It wasn't exactly a lie; he was fine. The limb would eventually heal. Not if he continued stunts like that, but it would heal.
"Kenshin, let me see, that was the arm with the stitches wasn't it? I'm so sorry, I didn't think anyone would be out here and...hey! Why are you up in the first place? You're supposed to be resting!" The last part was faintly shouted and a voice that was decidedly from inside the house reached him.
"Keep it down! I don't care what you do, just do it quietly! Some of us are trying to sleep!"
Kaoru was covering her face, but he could see the blush where her fingers didn't touch. He could feel his own heated cheeks.
"Maa, maa, Yahiko, gomen!" He decided to take care of one embarrassment at a time. "Kaoru-dono, I'm sorry to you as well, if I'd been paying attention..." She was looking at him, but not, her eyes only slightly showing through her bangs.
"It's okay, Kenshin, I was being silly laying on the ground anyway, I'll just go." She was turning to go but his arm reached out and grabbed her wrist. Damn, he thought, his body was doing that working by itself thing again.
"No, it is I that should go..." Their eyes met, and the moment began to play in the slowest speed he'd ever experienced. His body wasn't listening to Rurouni logic. No matter how he tried to stop himself, Kenshin just got back the message that this was "a good idea". Kenshin felt his arms go around the young woman despite pain still biting into his left arm. Which, he realized distractedly, was now pressed into Kaoru's lower back. His right hand had somehow tangled itself in a mass of soft ebony, which, he also noticed, he'd pulled free from its usual confinement sometime between distracted message #1: This is a good idea, and equally distracted message #2: My left hand is pulling her dangerously close. She looked like an angel. Her eyes fluttered closed and her moist lips parted ever so slightly. 'My God, this is happening, I'm going to kiss her'. His thoughts were going faster than the moment, and he faintly wondered what Kaoru must think. 'I hope she doesn't mind, I've wanted to do this for so long'. He was inches away from his goal; they deserved this, their happy ending. Her lips were so sweet looking, two inches...one inch...
"AHEM!" The voice was unmistakable.
"SHISHOU!" Kenshin fairly screeched.
"Hiko!" Kaoru was disentangling herself from the shocked, fairly oro-fied student.
"I hope I didn't...interrupt anything." Hiko was smiling like a devil. "I knocked for some time, I let myself in after it seemed no one would answer, I was slightly concerned that my baka deshi had gotten himself into more trouble. It seems quite the opposite." He shot Kenshin a wicked look, which meant he'd never let him live it down. "I don't mean to intrude."
Kaoru had seemed to gain some sort of mortified, yet still polite, peace of mind.
"Hiko-sama, please rest yourself, I'll go make tea." She bowed lowly to the man before her.
Kenshin wondered at the formality until he noticed her quickly straighten the ever-so-slightly-messy obi and retrieving her hair ribbon. "Pardon me." She had gathered her wits well, Kenshin thought.
"Shishou, I thought you were going to stay on your mountain," Kenshin wondered. Had he said that aloud?
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Hiko decided his baka deshi had changed not a whit. Although it seemed that he had finally taken to going after the girl. Kamiya...Kaoru. Kenshin needed someone like her; perhaps it would breathe life into the slightly dead fish his deshi had become. He remembered the boy being quite passionate about things he believed in. Being a wanderer had taken a bit of that...fire...from his student. He'd seen the passion in Kamiya, but how long would she wait for Kenshin? His baka deshi had been so named for a reason.
"Shishou, I thought you were going to stay on your mountain," Kenshin wondered aloud.
"It's just wonderful to see you too, Kenshin." He let the words spill languidly. 'Bust his chops a little', he thought with a smile.
"Shishou, that's not what I meant and you know it!" Kenshin was flustered.
"Good." Hiko's face fell. The reason for his visit slammed back into his heart and mind. 'Hitomi.' Kenshin's intimate moment, another ice-cold reminder of how alone he'd been without her. "Perhaps over tea...are you joining us?" He looked over at the still slightly tired boy in the door of the shoji. He'd been the real reason for the intrusion. Hiko was going to turn on his heel and give his baka deshi a night alone when he saw the girl's student walk out. He'd probably been rousted by the knocking...at least someone had been! The poor boy was left sputtering, so Hiko continued. "I figure we're all pretty parched after watching that scene, huh?" The boy nodded vigorously and ran for the kitchen; he'd lost his tongue however.
"Shishou?" Kenshin seemed confused, an expected turn of events for his master.
"I can't help it if you and the girl were putting on a floor show. I was just trying to monitor the ages of the spectators. He seemed...shocked into stone." His deshi was bright red, and suddenly found the ground very interesting.
"Thank you, Shishou. Please, come inside."
"I met Shinomori and the Weasel-girl on the way here, they were just about to excavate their friends. That girl is...strange. She was quite cheerful, and I admit it made me nervous. They related the story to me, I will admit Shinomori's account was less, what's the word I'm looking for, exuberant?" Hiko looked up at his student with knowing eyes. "How are you?"
Kenshin looked slightly shocked at the level of concern, but Hiko decided to be merciful.
"I'm healing well, Megumi-sensei gave me a full checkup before she left and she said that besides soreness and the fact that I have to take it easy, I'll be well in no time." Kenshin was leaving something out; he always got that tiny shrug when he left something out or lied.
"Thank you for the medical report, but that isn't what I meant." Minus the biting remark, it was heartfelt.
"I know, I just still don't know myself." To answer one way or another would be to lie Hiko knew. Kenshin spoke in earnest and Hiko accepted the answer given.
Hours later, over tea, the Kamiya girl seemed to regain what he assumed was her usual wit and he found himself bantering easily with Kenshin's...well, whatever she was to him. "...I often myself wondering the same thing, Kamiya-san."
"Perhaps if you stuck to the muscles you know work..." She was smiling and he couldn't help but flirt a bit, she was an adorable creature.
She'd been inserting herself in the conversation for the last two hours and more flamboyantly besides. Hiko was suddenly quite pleased that his baka deshi had found a rare flower indeed. He'd never seen the point in a woman that just sat there and poured your tea, you should be able to talk to your woman. Infinitely more important was that she bantered well, as well as any man he'd met. Her shyness in the beginning was endearing if nothing else. Hiko knew what Kenshin saw in the girl.
"I assure you my lady, everything is in working order." Hiko flashed his best smile. Ok, so the last remark was a bit over the top. Kaoru's hands flew up to hide her deep red blush.
Kenshin glared at him. A glare that quite obviously said, "Mine! Keep off!" He might as well have said it out loud for the way his body language dripped with raw animal protectiveness.
"I imagine I should tell you why I've come. I can't just invade your interesting lives and not tell you why." Hiko knew that if he could just get through this his ego would survive intact. "There was a woman..." Hiko got out four words before his idiot student interrupted him.
"Hitomi-sensei?" Kenshin's eyes stared into his own with worry, and for what seemed like an eternity.
"Yes...don't interrupt me!" Hiko glared down the staring purple orbs. "I am attending her burial." The mood shifted immediately, and he found himself wondering how to deviate the conversation back to a machismo contest with his obviously lacking student. "I can find somewhere else to stay if it's beyond you means Kamiya-san." He needed to be polite; concentration on that one feat was keeping the other feelings carefully locked away.
"NO!" Kamiya and Kenshin blurted at the same time. Hiko wondered at the pair now looking away from each other with blushes on their faces. Frighteningly made for each other.
"I'll show you to a room Shishou...If that's all right with Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin looked at her questioningly.
"Of course Kenshin! I'll get some extra blankets..." She was already out the door.
"Thank you for your hospitality." Hiko wondered slightly. "Where did the boy go?" He looked around in a vain attempt to find him.
"Ah, yes Yahiko. He left an hour ago. I imagine you didn't notice because you were blatantly flirting with Kaoru-dono." The last words were almost forced through a polite smile.
"Sorry, I can't help it if I'm irresistible." Hiko let the arrogance in his personality settle around him like his mantle. At least Kenshin wasn't asking sensitive questions. Maybe he'd learned after all.
"Are you ok Shishou? How? When?" Ok maybe not. Kenshin always knew just the right time to ask all the wrong questions.
"I believe we'll talk later. The story is long, involved, and tiring." Hiko prayed Kenshin would just listen for once.
"Of course Shishou...Whenever you desire to talk I will be here."
With that a shoji opened up to a sparse room and Kenshin left. It wasn't too much longer before Kamiya came with the blankets and she turned in for the night.
"By the way baka-deshi..." He knew Kenshin was on the other side of the outside shoji. He chuckled lightly...this would, at least, be fun. "It takes two people to flirt blatantly."
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Chapter 2 coming soon I promise. Just gotta type it up! Ja
This gets off to a slow start, but I swear that it'll pick up real soon. The first chapter is sort of a flashback/intro/exposition to the guts of the story. Yes spoilers abound. This is post-Jinchuu! I repeat POST! : ) Anyhoo. I hope everybody likes it. I'm a bit devilish, you'll see why in a bit.
The Long Road Home
Chapter 1
Ranma1517730129
She had been sweet. Sweet like the sake in the spring. Dark hair: like midnight on the longest night of the year. Her eyes: pools, dark also, so deep and savoring.
"They were almost just like mine. We shared so much, how could we not share now? How is it possible for life to go on without her sweet innocence?" Or maybe she wasn't like that anymore. It had been so long ago. Hiko shouldered his pack and left the solitude of his mountain once more.
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Kenshin lay in the room he had truly begun to call his own. He had almost completely healed from his fight with Enishi, but his Jinchuu still left pain etched on Kenshin's soul that no amount of time could heal. Scars he could deal with, in some ways they blanketed him. Scars were a reminder of the darker days that would follow him to the gates of eternity. Almost every day since the end of the Bakumatsu no Doran was a penance for the days of slaughter in his past. Ten long years that somehow still lived in the shadow of five. He had been tired, weary beyond words.
Then, somehow in Tokyo he had walked out of the darkness and into the heart of the sun. She was life, and everything she did was awash in laughter and understanding. Everyone she touched seemed to hold on for dear life. How could someone hold so much joy and yet be so lonely? When it flashed in her eyes, the loneliness and sorrow, it was almost unbearable. When Kenshin first came to the Kamiya dojo he decided his next destination would be somewhere far away. Okinawa perhaps, somewhere far away from this girl, this ball of energy that stirred such longing for home in his heart. Turning his back on the beautiful young kendoist was hard but not impossible. He, Hitokiri Battousai, didn't deserve such light outshining its darkness. In that moment, however, her loneliness bared itself. Her soul cried out to another turned back. "Please don't, don't go, you're my last hope." Then she asked Kenshin, no the Rurouni, to stay and there was nothing left of his resolve to say no.
He had ended his wandering that day, and each new day seemed to bring new joy. Soon after, Yahiko walked into their lives, another reminder to Kenshin of what home and family were like. Yahiko somehow maintained his childish innocence despite his desire to remain strong. Kaoru had a student again, and Kenshin watched her loneliness begin to ebb away. However, it seemed that his confusion would now rule the day. His heart was losing its desire to wander. Oh, his penance was always fresh in his mind but now it seemed that the need to protect was projecting itself ever more on a certain longhaired Kendo instructor. That was when they found Sanosuke. Of course, it wasn't that easy, but Sano had been so full of pain. He still left the reminder of that pain on his back "AKU" for the entire world to see, but now it was a pain that might heal. Eventually they found that Sanosuke was full of pride and ever so protective of his friends. It was as if they had all been fated to find one another, to find a second chance at life in an old run-down dojo. All orphans, trying to learn how to live in the new era.
One after another, people walked into their lives. Megumi, Tae, Tsubame, Aoshi and the Oniwabanshu, some good, some not so. Most had come seeking Kenshin specifically: Yamagata, Jine, Saitou. Thinking of the fight with Saitou was always hard, because it had been the beginning of the end. It had killed him to leave them. Shishio had to be stopped, but it was still one of the hardest things he had ever done. He thought briefly about leaving a note, anything to spare himself the additional pain of seeing Kaoru cry. But no, he would endure it because he deserved to take her torment with him. He had caused her the pain; he would have to live with her feelings of betrayal. Besides that, he had to see her one last time. If he was to die let it be with her image burned into his soul. She begged Kenshin to stay, but there was no anger. Just that same loneliness that asked "Why? I thought we were happy together." He was just going to thank her and leave, one foot after another set down on the cold road, but he found his body betraying him and running on its own without his consent. Before he could react, his arms were around her, holding her as close as he dared, and he felt more than saw his eyes close. He could see her perfectly without his eyes. This was the moment he grafted onto his soul. Warm...she was so warm, and she smelled of the sweetness of spring. And dear God, if he hadn't let go when he did he would never have found the strength again. So he had, and each step took him farther. He heard the rustle of cloth and his own name whispered through tears. Battousai was being summoned back out of the darkness however, and Kyto was no place for his family.
Understandably the Rurouni found himself only slightly shocked that, during one of his shishou's more prolific rants about his inadequacies as a deshi, Misao Yahiko and Kaoru herself burst in to argue his side. Once again, Kenshin's feelings warred within him. How dare she follow him here to this place of danger and death? "Misao-chan, Yahiko, Kaoru-dono." How could she put herself deliberately in harm's way? Shishio was killing guarded statesmen for breakfast. Yet here she was, and her closeness was a thing of wonder to him; the sight of her was like water to a man in the desert. He wanted to hold her close and kiss her silly, or hold her close and slap her silly, so he opted for neither and went to the well. After that, he saw no trace of her until his return to the Aoiya, and very little even then. The fight with Shishio and his men was long and hard. It was as if he had put out an ad for the strongest psychopaths in Japan. Somehow, he fought his way through; each opponent stronger and more misguided than the last. Sanosuke was at his side throughout, proving once and for all that he was one of the truest friends that Kenshin had ever made. Saitou was also there beside him to preserve the peace, to destroy evil instantly, as was his lot. Bitterest of rivals brought together in the name of Japan and her people. He somehow defeated Soujirou and saved Aoshi's soul from a final step in the wrong direction. He had almost failed in the end. Shishio was still fresh and lay in wait ahead, but Kaoru, or her image, called out to him. He wouldn't disappoint her again, and so he fought on. He had to fight Shishio, he had to fight and win. Kaoru had saved him again, saved him from the darkness twice. Then, with Shishio dispatched, he fell headlong into oblivion. It would be awhile before he healed, and a month before they returned to Tokyo. Return they did though, and home felt so good. Home. Home. Home...no matter how many times Kenshin said it, it would never get old, and as he looked at Kaoru's smile, he hoped that perhaps his heart could find a home as well.
Peace and hope were yet denied the Hitokiri turned Rurouni however. Enishi. An angry boy turned bitter, desperate man, so full of hate and rage for what and who Kenshin had been. His Tokyo family would now have to know the whole truth. Telling them his past had been hard, each new revelation, his role as a hitokiri for the Ishin Shishi from the beginning. He told them about how he left his Shishou, about how he had joined the Kihei-tai and was recruited as hitokiri by the IshinShishi, and finally about Tomoe.
"Tomoe," Kenshin whispered her name and smiled remorsefully up at the stars through the open shoji as he sat. "I wonder if we could have ever been truly happy, I would have liked to try. Maybe you could have saved Enishi from himself, he did truly love you."
Her heart had changed so much in their short time together. The winter that year had been so cold and bitter, yet somehow it was as if a sort of spring were entering Tomoe's heart. She had brought him meaning when life had slowly all but taken his. They had only consummated their marriage one time, as fate would have it right before her death.
He blushed slightly as he thought about it. "A moon-struck experience as I remember it." He hadn't known how to react when she'd reached for him that night. The cold moon reminded him of the way her skin had looked and a shiver ran down his spine. He decided this night was better left to one issue at a time. But for that night, their souls had joined and Tomoe had seemed so young, innocent and hopeful. He wished he had known what she had been hiding, they could have fought together. One day, perhaps she could have forgiven him.
When Kenshin had finished the story of his past, his friends were in shock. It was quiet in the dojo for some time after. Kenshin searched the eyes of his friends for hatred but there was none. He searched Kaoru's face for repugnance but found only sadness, perhaps pity and something he couldn't name. He only prayed they wouldn't reject him. The Kenshin-gumi, it seemed, would never let him down.
Enishi had planned his Jinchuu well. Each person he touched was hurt in some way or another. Yet right before Enishi was expected, Kaoru had asked him to stay again, to stay with her.
"I wanted nothing more." Kenshin hung his head and returned to his musings.
He found her "body" in the dojo and his mind whirled. It wasn't possible; the sweet, kinetic girl he had just promised to stay with had just left him forever. The cross scar etched into her cheek bled and the eyes left open stared out at the world almost in accusation. The only thing that kept the corpse from falling was the watto stabbed straight through her heart. Kenshin's horror finally dissipated enough for one thought to shine through the haze. He would die with her. There was nothing else to do and his soul left to give chase as his feet took him to Rakuninmura.
He flinched at the memory. He had left so many people behind in that moment, but it hadn't mattered. Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu had failed him again. It was useless to save the ones he loved.
He'd starved himself; it was first thing he'd been aware of, truly aware of, since Kaoru's death.
No, she hadn't been dead. If someone had told him a year ago that the spirit of his dead wife would come to tell him that he hadn't failed to protect Kaoru he would have thought they were nuts. He smiled, "Then again, I think I was out of my mind. But thank you anyway, Tomoe."
He saved Yahiko, went to get some decent sleep, about a week's worth, and then went with the small army they'd collected. He had almost been relieved to see Saitou alive...almost. Well, at least for Tokio's sake, whoever the woman was.
They found themselves on an island: Aoshi, Misao, Sano, Saitou, Yahiko, Megumi and himself. Thugs were sent first, and then Enishi made his appearance, but when Kaoru came stumbling through to the forest edge he remembered her warmth before Kyoto and once again he fought for her. The battle was a long one and in the end, Tomoe's memory did sort of save Yukushiro Enishi. Scores of wounds were bleeding heavily, old wounds reopened. Enishi had refused to stop, that was of course when things went from bad to worse. One of Enishi's thugs pulled a gun. Kenshin thought that history was going to repeat itself. He heard the gun go off, he felt the first bullet bury itself in his shoulder. She screamed, ran, and somehow put herself between the gun and him. Time slowed down to a horrible crawl. He would not have been able to save her; Enishi did. The irony was not lost on him; the same situation had played itself out, but this time Enishi could stop it. The fight did eventually go out of Enishi, but it had left Kenshin as well. The world had started to go dark, and Kenshin had waited for the ground to meet him. "Oro?" was all he could manage when Kaoru's strong arms caught him. It was as if Kenshin had found heaven.
Everything had gone quickly after that. Megumi returned to Aizu to start a practice of her own and continue the search for her parents. Kenshin wondered at how calmly Sanosuke had said goodbye. He'd always been quite dense when it came to people and their relationships, but he'd noticed the affinity the streetfighter had had for the lady doctor.
Questions...Kenshin had a few he'd like to ask Sano right now.
In the moment of their parting however fate played Sano an interesting hand, in that same instant Megumi left for Aizu, Sagara Sanosuke walked out of their lives as well. He had caused some sort of disturbance and he was going to leave the country for awhile. The next morning Kenshin and the rest of their small family went to see him off for real. Kenshin had no doubts that they would see him again; it was Sano's way. Saitou crawled away to wherever it was that he crawled, ignoring their final duel. Kenshin buried the hatchet that night. There was nothing left to do, besides, Saitou had helped return the light in his life. Maybe one day he would fight Saitou again but life had allowed him this little peace, and so he took it without question. Aoshi and Misao had left on the road for Kyoto a little before Megumi and Sano. They were going to bring their departed friends home. Misao had almost begged Aoshi to stay at the Kamiya dojo for a month until Aoshi alluded to their friends. She had been ready for travel home within the hour. They left for Kyoto together. Kenshin wondered at the events of the past year. Winter was coming and with it the New Year. He wondered at what could possibly happen to top this year's chaos, and then decided that peace and quiet would be the ultimate gift.
Despite the fact that he was the healing invalid who'd been warned away from all sword activities, Kenshin decided to make a round of the dojo. It was quiet. Yahiko had gone to bed early and so evening practice with Kaoru had been cancelled. Yahiko was still acting strangely around Kaoru and himself, and in this instance Kenshin understood his feelings. It was like being around two recently animated ghosts. He resolved himself to speak with Yahiko in the morning.
So absorbed was he in his thoughts that he didn't notice the form watching the stars in front of him until it was too late. He was falling; he thought wearily about his arm and tucked it immediately behind his back. Oh yeah, this was going to hurt. Then he realized the article he'd tripped over had been feet. The unsuspecting body, not the ground, was coming to meet him. A body, now identifiable as Kaoru, shrieked.
"Eyahhhhhhhhhhh!"
"ORORO!?" Kenshin threw out his arms and legs, catching himself inches from the obstacle/stargazer. He allowed himself a momentary pat on the back for his agility, then noticed the extremely close proximity to the object of his evening's quandary. He would be lying if he didn't admit his blush, and he wondered if he was as red as his hair. That was when the tiny adrenaline rush gave out; his arm screamed angrily at him and gave way. "Itai!" The left side of his body crashed down on Kaoru and the sentiment was duly noted. He rolled to the side, cradling the proffered limb, wishing he could disappear; this was embarrassing.
"Kenshin! Are you alright?!" She had crawled to his side some time while he was attending his arm.
"I'm fine, Kaoru-dono." It wasn't exactly a lie; he was fine. The limb would eventually heal. Not if he continued stunts like that, but it would heal.
"Kenshin, let me see, that was the arm with the stitches wasn't it? I'm so sorry, I didn't think anyone would be out here and...hey! Why are you up in the first place? You're supposed to be resting!" The last part was faintly shouted and a voice that was decidedly from inside the house reached him.
"Keep it down! I don't care what you do, just do it quietly! Some of us are trying to sleep!"
Kaoru was covering her face, but he could see the blush where her fingers didn't touch. He could feel his own heated cheeks.
"Maa, maa, Yahiko, gomen!" He decided to take care of one embarrassment at a time. "Kaoru-dono, I'm sorry to you as well, if I'd been paying attention..." She was looking at him, but not, her eyes only slightly showing through her bangs.
"It's okay, Kenshin, I was being silly laying on the ground anyway, I'll just go." She was turning to go but his arm reached out and grabbed her wrist. Damn, he thought, his body was doing that working by itself thing again.
"No, it is I that should go..." Their eyes met, and the moment began to play in the slowest speed he'd ever experienced. His body wasn't listening to Rurouni logic. No matter how he tried to stop himself, Kenshin just got back the message that this was "a good idea". Kenshin felt his arms go around the young woman despite pain still biting into his left arm. Which, he realized distractedly, was now pressed into Kaoru's lower back. His right hand had somehow tangled itself in a mass of soft ebony, which, he also noticed, he'd pulled free from its usual confinement sometime between distracted message #1: This is a good idea, and equally distracted message #2: My left hand is pulling her dangerously close. She looked like an angel. Her eyes fluttered closed and her moist lips parted ever so slightly. 'My God, this is happening, I'm going to kiss her'. His thoughts were going faster than the moment, and he faintly wondered what Kaoru must think. 'I hope she doesn't mind, I've wanted to do this for so long'. He was inches away from his goal; they deserved this, their happy ending. Her lips were so sweet looking, two inches...one inch...
"AHEM!" The voice was unmistakable.
"SHISHOU!" Kenshin fairly screeched.
"Hiko!" Kaoru was disentangling herself from the shocked, fairly oro-fied student.
"I hope I didn't...interrupt anything." Hiko was smiling like a devil. "I knocked for some time, I let myself in after it seemed no one would answer, I was slightly concerned that my baka deshi had gotten himself into more trouble. It seems quite the opposite." He shot Kenshin a wicked look, which meant he'd never let him live it down. "I don't mean to intrude."
Kaoru had seemed to gain some sort of mortified, yet still polite, peace of mind.
"Hiko-sama, please rest yourself, I'll go make tea." She bowed lowly to the man before her.
Kenshin wondered at the formality until he noticed her quickly straighten the ever-so-slightly-messy obi and retrieving her hair ribbon. "Pardon me." She had gathered her wits well, Kenshin thought.
"Shishou, I thought you were going to stay on your mountain," Kenshin wondered. Had he said that aloud?
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Hiko decided his baka deshi had changed not a whit. Although it seemed that he had finally taken to going after the girl. Kamiya...Kaoru. Kenshin needed someone like her; perhaps it would breathe life into the slightly dead fish his deshi had become. He remembered the boy being quite passionate about things he believed in. Being a wanderer had taken a bit of that...fire...from his student. He'd seen the passion in Kamiya, but how long would she wait for Kenshin? His baka deshi had been so named for a reason.
"Shishou, I thought you were going to stay on your mountain," Kenshin wondered aloud.
"It's just wonderful to see you too, Kenshin." He let the words spill languidly. 'Bust his chops a little', he thought with a smile.
"Shishou, that's not what I meant and you know it!" Kenshin was flustered.
"Good." Hiko's face fell. The reason for his visit slammed back into his heart and mind. 'Hitomi.' Kenshin's intimate moment, another ice-cold reminder of how alone he'd been without her. "Perhaps over tea...are you joining us?" He looked over at the still slightly tired boy in the door of the shoji. He'd been the real reason for the intrusion. Hiko was going to turn on his heel and give his baka deshi a night alone when he saw the girl's student walk out. He'd probably been rousted by the knocking...at least someone had been! The poor boy was left sputtering, so Hiko continued. "I figure we're all pretty parched after watching that scene, huh?" The boy nodded vigorously and ran for the kitchen; he'd lost his tongue however.
"Shishou?" Kenshin seemed confused, an expected turn of events for his master.
"I can't help it if you and the girl were putting on a floor show. I was just trying to monitor the ages of the spectators. He seemed...shocked into stone." His deshi was bright red, and suddenly found the ground very interesting.
"Thank you, Shishou. Please, come inside."
"I met Shinomori and the Weasel-girl on the way here, they were just about to excavate their friends. That girl is...strange. She was quite cheerful, and I admit it made me nervous. They related the story to me, I will admit Shinomori's account was less, what's the word I'm looking for, exuberant?" Hiko looked up at his student with knowing eyes. "How are you?"
Kenshin looked slightly shocked at the level of concern, but Hiko decided to be merciful.
"I'm healing well, Megumi-sensei gave me a full checkup before she left and she said that besides soreness and the fact that I have to take it easy, I'll be well in no time." Kenshin was leaving something out; he always got that tiny shrug when he left something out or lied.
"Thank you for the medical report, but that isn't what I meant." Minus the biting remark, it was heartfelt.
"I know, I just still don't know myself." To answer one way or another would be to lie Hiko knew. Kenshin spoke in earnest and Hiko accepted the answer given.
Hours later, over tea, the Kamiya girl seemed to regain what he assumed was her usual wit and he found himself bantering easily with Kenshin's...well, whatever she was to him. "...I often myself wondering the same thing, Kamiya-san."
"Perhaps if you stuck to the muscles you know work..." She was smiling and he couldn't help but flirt a bit, she was an adorable creature.
She'd been inserting herself in the conversation for the last two hours and more flamboyantly besides. Hiko was suddenly quite pleased that his baka deshi had found a rare flower indeed. He'd never seen the point in a woman that just sat there and poured your tea, you should be able to talk to your woman. Infinitely more important was that she bantered well, as well as any man he'd met. Her shyness in the beginning was endearing if nothing else. Hiko knew what Kenshin saw in the girl.
"I assure you my lady, everything is in working order." Hiko flashed his best smile. Ok, so the last remark was a bit over the top. Kaoru's hands flew up to hide her deep red blush.
Kenshin glared at him. A glare that quite obviously said, "Mine! Keep off!" He might as well have said it out loud for the way his body language dripped with raw animal protectiveness.
"I imagine I should tell you why I've come. I can't just invade your interesting lives and not tell you why." Hiko knew that if he could just get through this his ego would survive intact. "There was a woman..." Hiko got out four words before his idiot student interrupted him.
"Hitomi-sensei?" Kenshin's eyes stared into his own with worry, and for what seemed like an eternity.
"Yes...don't interrupt me!" Hiko glared down the staring purple orbs. "I am attending her burial." The mood shifted immediately, and he found himself wondering how to deviate the conversation back to a machismo contest with his obviously lacking student. "I can find somewhere else to stay if it's beyond you means Kamiya-san." He needed to be polite; concentration on that one feat was keeping the other feelings carefully locked away.
"NO!" Kamiya and Kenshin blurted at the same time. Hiko wondered at the pair now looking away from each other with blushes on their faces. Frighteningly made for each other.
"I'll show you to a room Shishou...If that's all right with Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin looked at her questioningly.
"Of course Kenshin! I'll get some extra blankets..." She was already out the door.
"Thank you for your hospitality." Hiko wondered slightly. "Where did the boy go?" He looked around in a vain attempt to find him.
"Ah, yes Yahiko. He left an hour ago. I imagine you didn't notice because you were blatantly flirting with Kaoru-dono." The last words were almost forced through a polite smile.
"Sorry, I can't help it if I'm irresistible." Hiko let the arrogance in his personality settle around him like his mantle. At least Kenshin wasn't asking sensitive questions. Maybe he'd learned after all.
"Are you ok Shishou? How? When?" Ok maybe not. Kenshin always knew just the right time to ask all the wrong questions.
"I believe we'll talk later. The story is long, involved, and tiring." Hiko prayed Kenshin would just listen for once.
"Of course Shishou...Whenever you desire to talk I will be here."
With that a shoji opened up to a sparse room and Kenshin left. It wasn't too much longer before Kamiya came with the blankets and she turned in for the night.
"By the way baka-deshi..." He knew Kenshin was on the other side of the outside shoji. He chuckled lightly...this would, at least, be fun. "It takes two people to flirt blatantly."
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Chapter 2 coming soon I promise. Just gotta type it up! Ja