Revamp! Longer chapters, and some semblance of a plot this time around. Sorry for the inconvenience. I've had a lot going on-college, work...but hopefully, I'll be posting new chapters every week. Enjoy!
Oh My Kenshin
Kaoru scowled.
"Kenshin?"
"That I am."
"Get out."
Kenshin flashed Kaoru a proud grin.
"No can do Miss Kaoru. A promise is a promise."
Right, Kaoru thought. Kenshin promised-and Kenshin always kept his promises.
Himura Battousai, the drifter, the obtruder, the cold hard killer-always kept his promises.
Kaoru followed Kenshin inside.
"I mean it Kenshin. There's no room."
"The dojo will do just fine, that it will."
Kaoru folded her arms and sucked her teeth and gave Kenshin a dirty look. She'd had it up to here with the manslayer.
"I-we don't need you Kenshin!"
"Now, wait a minute Missy. Kenshin's our friend and one of the best fighters in all of Tokyo, maybe the world. We could use him around the house." Said Sano, draping a long slender, white arm across Kaoru's shoulder. "Kenshin, you can have my room. I never sleep anyway."
"Sano!"
"You should be more-what's that word-hospitable."
Kenshin filled a basin with warm water and started on the wash.
"We've got a lot in common Miss Kaoru, that we do. I'm not here to cause trouble. I'm here to protect you."
"Well, I don't need any protecting, Kenshin. My father taught me the kamiya Kassin style." Kaoru wielded her bokken with skillful accuracy. "This bokken is considered a lethal weapon." She aimed the kissaki-the tip of the wooden blade at Kenshin's temple and grinned.
"You should put your bokken away, that you should."
Kaoru took note of Sakabato-Kenshin's reverse blade sword, hanging loosely from his left hip. Sakabato-a weapon Ill fit for killing. Kenshin had a shady past and an even shadier weapon.
"Dinner will be at 5. Yahiko, I expect you to take care of the dishes."
Yahiko, the wayward pickpocket, would do anything to please his highness Himura Kenshin. Kaoru taught him Kamiya Kassin in her free time, and he seemed to be turning his life around.
But he was a brat.
"You should respect Kenshin, raccoon face." Yahiko chuckled.
"And you should respect your teacher, Yahiko!"
"Broom. Courtyard. You, Yahiko."
Yahiko moped and went on his way. Their squabbles always ended that way. The courtyard would be crystal clear if Yahiko didn't watch his mouth and his childlike temper.
"I don't need you to fight my battles Himura." Kaoru asserted. "And I'll go anywhere I please thank you very much." She added, storming off. Kenshin raised an eyebrow. Kaoru was hard headed and steeled, but beautiful beyond her years. He half expected the beautiful dark haired Kaoru to fight him tooth and nail at every turn. Kaoru's father attempted to dissuade him in favor of his strong-willed daughter, but he'd promised...
"Just stay out of my way Battousai," Kaoru barked. Her father had taught her Kamiya Kasshin Style and by God, she was damn good at protecting herself. She brushed past Kenshin.
"Where are you headed?"
"Anywhere else."
"Kaoru, don't make my job any harder than it has to be."
"Oh, I won't," she grimaced. "I'll make it easy for you Battousai. I'll do what the hell I want to do, and you'll deal with it!"
"Ugly girl, ugly mouth." Laughed Yahiko from the courtyard. Kaoru stormed off without another word. That Yahiko, she thought, was a bother, but one of her very last kamiya Kasshin students. She'd have him sweep the courtyard again when she returned.
"The little twit." She thought.
For now, she just needed to breathe.
Kaoru climbed out of her bedroom window, which was only a few feet above solid ground. She could take care of herself. She didn't need Kenshin and she didn't need any white knight.
Her father must have been mistaken.
She thought fondly of her Father and Kenjutsu teacher, Kamiya Koshijiro who trained her as his student until his death. The wayward warrior, Kenshin, had been to the dojo before, 8 years ago and befriended the man she'd come to honor and respect-her father. Their agreement was unbeknownst to her, but she didn't need the wanderer, not now, not ever.
"Where ya going Missy?"
"Out."
"That might not be such a good idea."
"If you're here to assert Kenshin's will, you should turn back now. And you tell Kenshin about the importance of personal space!" Kaoru glowered.
"I'm all for free will, but it's dangerous this time of day. Kenshin would go nuts if anything happened to you."
"I'm not some helpless princess, stuck in a tower, Sano. If Kenshin thinks he can just walk into our lives and turn the dojo into some jail cell, he's got another thing coming."
"I don't think Kenshin-look, Missy, be safe. Okay?"
"Don't worry about me, Sano."
Kaoru kept ahead. Sano was like a brother to her, and he should know, she thought, that his position was still very safe. Kenshin could never replace her Sano.
Yahiko on the other hand...
She knew he thought about it. Two fighters in the same household was bound to cause trouble, and Sano had wanted to fight Kenshin since the day he met him. Losing to the slayer had saddened and humbled him in ways he couldn't explain.
It always hurt to lose.
But Sano was strong, and got over it quickly, though, she always assumed he still housed some deep down disdain for the manslayer, despite his friendly guise.
Kaoru took a short cut through the woods. It was still light out, and she wanted to make it into town before dark per Sano's request. She bought her bokken along, just in case.
Lee was a former student of Kamiya Koshijiro-a flunky and a very angry man. He turned the dojo upside down after her father banished him from the dojo and the Kamiya Kassin style. He left with a broken arm and a waning spirit, though, he was still incredibly good at playing tough.
"Well, well, if it ain't little miss Kaoru," he said, smirking. "Long time no see."
Kaoru stopped to acknowledge the drunken misfit. He was all red faced and drenched in sweat. His badly disfigured arm hung like wet cement from his drooping shoulder. The other, healthy arm was downright Herculean. He'd been training against her fathers wishes.
"I'm not here to have a conversation." She said. He tossed around a tiny pocketknife-from one hand to the other. It was her fathers.
"Return it." Kaoru barked.
"Oh, this little thing? No can do princess. It was a fair trade off. Your father broke my arm, I take his knife."
It was Jade and silver and the most precious item her father owned. He'd had no business tossing it around like that, Kaoru thought angrily.
"You could have hurt a lot of people, Lee. My father protected us from you. He did what he needed to do."
"It took me years to learn how to use a sword again. Years!" Lee screamed. "This knife pales in comparison to what I'll take next."
"My father is dead."
"And I hope he's listening. You hear that Koshijiro? You hear that? I'm going to take something even more precious than your ugly knife. I'm going to take your daughters virginity."
Kaoru turned tomato red and immediately, knee jerkingly reacted-holding her bokken defensively, the man was a brute, 6 foot 5, and wielded an ax the size of zanbato.
"My father forgave you years before his death."
"My arm is a constant reminder of the hate I have for your father, still, even after all these years."
Kaoru backed away slowly. She could handle the brute, but she was practically helpless in her kimono.
"If Kenshin finds out you were here-"
"Ooo, the manslayer. I've been dying to meet him. Send my regards."
Lee took hold of Kaoru's arm and twisted. She fell to her knees.
"That's it. Bow down to me like your father never did." He lifted Kaoru up with his good arm, undoing her kimono in the incline. Kaoru kicked and clawed at the mans horribly scarred face.
Lee fought dishonorably, and was rewarded for his transgressions. His scars told godawful stories. The biggest, blackest one went from his brown, to the back of his big, bald head.
"Let go of me!" Kaoru kneed the brute and was allowed a few seconds of respite, but Lee recovered quickly and snatched the fabric of Kaoru's Kimono away like tissue paper, revealing big, white breasts.
"Mmm." Lee groaned, wantonly, reaching out to prod a perky pink nipple.
"I would advise you to put Kaoru down immediately."
"Kenshin!" Kaoru averted her gaze, ashamedly. The manslayer had his back turned.
"I've been waiting for you, Battousai." Grinned Lee.
"Avert you gaze, Lee. I will count to 5. In 10 seconds, I'll be forced to take both your eyes."
Lee flashed Kenshin a look of skepticism.
"What?"
"1-2-3..."
Lee dropped Kaoru, who gasped for air soon after.
"4-5." Kenshin put his Sakabato through Lee's left eye and twisted, loosening the blue green orb from its socket. Lee let out an ear splitting sound, similar to a roosters howl and fell to his knees, grasping at the now empty orifice.
"Taking a woman against her will is an unforgivable sin. Perverts like you deserve no less than death. You live to see the pain of others. Well, I happen to think that consensual pleasure looks good on a woman."
Kenshin held the blade of his sword to Lee's neck.
"No, please, I'll do anything!"
"The knife."
Lee handed Kenshin the knife and crawled away backwards on his bulbous behind.
"One more thing."
Kenshin took hold of Lee's right arm and twisted at an odd angle. The sound made Kaoru nauseous. She jerked a piece of torn fabric over her naked chest and turned away. Lee laid passed out on the forest floor, with a scary looking Kenshin as his backdrop.
The Battousai had arrived.
She hardly ever saw that side of Kenshin. He wouldn't even look at her.
The nerve of the Battousai, she thought, for showing up and throwing a wrench in her ordinary life. And why'd he have to be so-gorgeous. She shook the thought. What would Sano think if he knew that behind all the anger, was some strange, unyielding love for the sword wielding, former assassin.
Kaoru got up.
Kenshin, why must you be so-humph.
"You think I care." Kaoru muttered, holding back tears. The nerve of the Battousai-making her feel so suddenly inadequate. "You've seen plenty of naked women before, right? I'm no different." She adjusted her kimono and stormed off toward home. The Battousai digressed and followed a crying Kaoru home.
"I've always liked Miss Kaoru." Said Kenshin, giving me an indifferent look. Battousai, What the hell sort of look was that, anyway. God, those eyes! Those beautiful golden flecked Battosai eyes. Why'd he go and give me those damned Battosai eyes.
Kaoru stared up at the ceiling. The incident with Lee was weeks behind her, now. She never even thought about it anymore. She refused to.
Kaoru remembered Kenshin had showed up at the dojo with a note from her father and a sword on his side. The infamous Battousai. He'd already been at the dojo for an entire 2 weeks, and everyone, but her, had gained a liking for the mystery man.
"Breakfast is ready." Shouted Kenshin from the kitchen. Kenshin cooked all the meals now. He'd taken her place as matriarch and she begrudgingly conceded.
Kaoru sat down opposite of Kenshin.
"Good morning Missy." Said Sano, merrily. Sano loved mornings and breakfast and sparring above all things. Kaoru enjoyed his never waning spirits compared to her own downtrodden-ness .
Kenshin stared at Kaoru from under long red bangs. He always thought about her now, especially since the incident with Lee. She'd been minutes away from being brutally raped by a drunken fool. Battousai fought daily to keep from killing the brute for what he'd done to his Kaoru, but he'd made a promise.
No more senseless killing. No more anger. No more...distractions.
Kaoru looked everywhere but anywhere Kenshin was. Battousai hated it. He could hardly bare being ignored by Kaoru-the hard headed damsel and his future bride. It was too bad, he thought, that she had no idea of what he planned to do to her. With her.
Kaoru hated his arrogance and those magnificent golden orbs. He had no business looking at her like that, she thought. He saw her almost get raped. He should have been angry, steaming white hot, anything but turned on.
"Kenshin, I want you to teach me how to use a sword." Said Yahiko, with a full mouth.
"Im sure Kenshin has other things to worry about. Besides, the Kamiya Kassin style is far superior to anything Kenshin could teach you."
"Kaoru is right, that she is," said Kenshin. His glowing golden orbs suggested the Battousai was about to rear his ugly, forlorn head. Kaoru was taken aback by the admittance.
Kenshin and the Battousai were two very real people inside one body, both fighting for control over the other. It was a battle of wills and Kenshin seemed to be losing.
If Kenshin wanted to play house, she'd give him a run for his money.
"Would you two mind if Miss Kaoru and I talked."
"No problem." Said Sano, yanking Yahiko up by his collar and dragging him off despite his stout-hearted protests.
Kaoru kept her eyes focused on her meal. Her eggs were getting cold. She jostled them with her chopsticks.
"I won't bow down to you Kenshin." She muttered.
"That's not what I'm asking."
"You haven't talked about what happened. Why? It's been driving me crazy all this time."
"You deserve secrecy Miss Kaoru. Lee is gone. He's not coming back. I don't need any recognition for saving your life. I don't even need to bring it up, that I don't." Said Kenshin tenderly.
"You didn't-save my life. I was playing along-waiting for him to let his guard down. As a practitioner of the kamiya Kassin style, I am sworn to-"
"Enough." Shouted Battousai. He'd made enough noise to wake the dead. "My past is one of many transgressions. I killed men. I raped women. I was a bad man. I've changed, grown, become stronger. I promised your father I'd protect you, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."
The dinner table was on the brink of collapsing under the weight of The Battousai's fist.
"You aren't allowed to change my life, Kenshin-whoever you are." Kenshin was kind, while Battosai, the golden eyed fiend, was smart mouthed and intimidating.
Sano was like the big brother she never had and she'd spent weeks trying to convince him that what she and Kenshin had was a mutual dislike for one another. She couldn't tell Sano about Lee or about Kenshin's heroic act, lest she be pelted with I-told-you-so's.
But was it mutual? She could admit to liking Kenshin, but did Kenshin like her? The bastard was damn hard to read. She groaned.
Pretending to hate someone for so long was exhausting.
Kaoru didn't hate Kenshin, but she didn't like him very much right then. She wanted to be angry at him for something, anything, but he'd saved her from becoming Lee's play thing. There was nothing to be angry about.
Kaoru stared up at the Battousai, wide eyed, and noted the emotion behind those golden flecked orbs. She couldn't quite pin point it.
"Is that all?" Asked Kaoru, sounding far off. If he only knew how much he affected her. She turned her attention to a tiny wet spot on the floor.
There was a knock on the door, a band, then a shout. Sano rushed in with Yahiko under his arm.
"What was that?"
Kenshin unsheathed his reverse blade sword.
"It's Lee. And he brought some friends with him." Said Battousai, smirking.