Furtive Glances A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction

Chapter Two: Crossing Paths

The streets were even more crowded today than usual. In an unfamiliar place such as this, the bustle of people going about their business was a little intimidating. Especially when she herself was unsure of the task at hand.

How was she supposed to find him in a place like this?

She had been so full of optimism, that first day she and Yahiko came to position themselves in these steps. They will find him. How could there have been any doubt? But now, as she sat here feeling the hours and days go by, doubts began to plague her thoughts.

Perhaps she had made a mistake.

Not necessarily in coming to Kyoto, that is. But perhaps preparing a plan of action would have been a more prudent course to take prior to their departure. She let out a soft whimper. Their leaving Tokyo hadn't been exactly one of her more well thought out moments. She had been acting purely on instinct. A knee-jerk reaction that stemmed out of a need to do something, anything, after escaping the muted world of nothingness that she had lived in after hearing Kenshin's last words to her.

She gave a deep sigh and looked at the spiky-haired youth sitting on the steps next to her. There were times when it was his dogged determination that she drew upon to keep herself from losing hope. Another forlorn sigh escaped her lips before she could stop herself. Guiltily, she looked at Yahiko to see if he heard. He had been so worried and concerned and …frustrated over her depression that he had watched over her like a hawk during the whole trip. He was always there to say the right things—or the wrong things, for that matter, as long as it worked—to bring her out of her bouts of self-pity.

She felt a wave of shame wash over her at the thought.

She had to admit that he had been quite the adult throughout this whole experience. To this day, she wasn't sure if she could ever explain her actions to others or even to herself. Remembering the relative ease to which she slipped into a melancholic state both perplexed and frightened her. She didn't understand…didn't recognize the person she had become. All she knew in that time was that everyone left her. Her father left, Kenshin left…Aoshi left.

She clamped her hand on her mouth to stop a gasp of surprise from escaping with that thought. Why would she even think of that man? Aoshi did not leave her. He just…stopped being there. Back in the woods.

She closed her eyes for second, remembering. Back in the woods, she had always known when he was near. A small smile curved her lips. She wondered if he knew. At first, she had been uncertain, even scared, when she felt the shift in the air that told her she wasn't alone. She had told herself that it was her overly active imagination conjuring up enemies or worse, ghosts, ready to attack her at any given second. She had been, for all intents and purposes, in a graveyard after all. She had even told herself that it was her sense of guilt that was making her feel things that weren't there, see shadows that were nonexistent, and hear warnings that have no substance.

She had almost succeeded in convincing herself that everything her instincts cried out to her were nothing more than a healthy dose of imagination and guilt all wrapped in a tight ball in the pit of her stomach. In fact, she would have convinced herself eventually, she was sure, except for that day. That one day when she encountered Aoshi Shinomori.

FLASHBACK

Kaoru gave a slight jump at the sound of the screeching bird up above. She shivered in her kimono, despite the heat, and continued her walk.

It was her imagination. That was all there was to it.

No one was watching her, waiting for just the perfect moment to pounce. No one was lurking in the shadows, or worse, hovering above ground in the shadows for that right moment to appear before her and let her know once and for all that ghosts, in fact, do exist.

It was her guilty conscience and that's all there was to it. She shouldn't have lied to Kenshin and Yahiko and Sano about where she was going. Now she was paying for it.

She picked up her pace.

No sense in taking chances after all, in case someone was out there.

She gave herself a mental shake at the direction of her thoughts. The imagination she could live with, but the guilt ate at her soul. She was never good at secrets; she never liked having one and definitely never liked it when others had one from her. Life was always much simpler when everything was out in the open. And so, the very thought of keeping her graveside visits from her friends had been an anathema to her.

Except…except she couldn't quite bring herself to tell her friends about it. She didn't know whether they would understand. She gave a sad smile as she thought of her friends. She was afraid that Yahiko might see it as a betrayal. In fact, Megumi and Sano might just have the very same thought. The Oniwaban group had not endeared themselves to the Kenshin-gumi. As for Kenshin, though…Kenshin, she had a small feeling, would understand. She could almost see his lavender eyes as they conveyed empathy to her plight. She knew deep down that he, more than anyone, would comprehend her feelings of…gratitude and humility towards the Oniwaban group—the men who gave their lives to save their Okashira and in turn saved the Kenshin-gumi as well.

Her eyes stared unseeingly at the scenes before her until once more, she reached the gravesite. In that one selfless act, the Oniwaban group gained not just her gratitude, but also her admiration. She was sure, quite sure, that Kenshin felt the same. That then begged the question: why didn't she tell Kenshin about these visits?

She shook her head, unwilling to explore the answers at this time. Instead, she knelt carefully by the graves as she artfully arranged the flowers she had brought with her. They were nothing fancy. Just cherry blossoms she had gathered as she passed by a row of trees on her way here. It was the first time she had brought something with her to adorn the headstones.

She hoped…she hoped that this was acceptable. In all her visits here, she had never seen flowers or anything by these graves. As she walked by the grove of cherry blossom trees awhile ago, she had thought that maybe it was time to put something by these stones.

She shivered.

There it was again. That feeling of being watched.

She tried to shrug it of as she continued to lay the flowers on all four headstones, but she could feel her heartbeat quicken.

CRUNCH! She heard the crackle of dead leaves close behind her.

Her movements stilled as she tried to even out her breathing.

"You silly little fool," she berated herself for what may be the twentieth time. She stood up slowly, her breathing erratic despite her attempts to calm herself. She braced herself, preparing herself to turn around and see what was probably a whole bunch of nothing. Nothing but the wind. Nothing but the leaves. Nothing but the trees.

She turned.

And gave a startled yelp.

"Kamiya," his voice was abrupt, unfriendly, and most definitely unwelcoming.

Mouth open, she stared at the man who all but promised to kill Kenshin. She should feel frightened and angry and affronted.

Bu then, this was also the same man who had inspired such loyalty from his men that they had given their lives so that he may live. She swallowed a lump in her throat.

"Kamiya," he repeated at her continued silence, just as he stepped forward.

And strangely, strangely, at the sound of his voice, she could feel the tight knot in her chest loosen. As she stared at his brooding eyes, she began to think, to wonder at perhaps the real reason why she had never told Kenshin of her graveside trips.

Had she known that she would see him? Had she wanted to see him?

"Aoshi Shinomori," she replied quietly, her eyes resting apprehensively upon his face.

END FLASHBACK

"Aoshi Shinomori."

Kaoru jerked out her reverie, wondering if she had said that name out loud. She looked at Yahiko, whose eyes were transfixed at the scene before him. Following his gaze, she gave a gasp of surprise.

"Aoshi Shinomori," Yahiko repeated as he got to his feet and continued to stare at the retreating figure.

Aoshi Shinomori, she thought, watching the familiar confident strides, her mouth agape. Had she conjured him up from her memories? "What is he doing here?" she asked almost to herself as she continued to stare at the quickly disappearing figure.

She watched as Yahiko galvanized into action.

"Yahiko, wait," she exclaimed, unsure of their path of action. Should they follow him? Was it safe?

"We've been here for three days with nothing to show for," Yahiko said, a thread of impatience edging his voice. "If we follow him, he may lead us to Kenshin," he called back to her as he started running.

Left with no choice, she ran to follow him as her mind raced along with her considering all the possibilities.

What was Aoshi doing here in Kyoto?

Had he come to find Kenshin? Had he…had he come to make good on his promise? Kaoru bit her lips as one scene after another flashed before her eyes. So distracted was she that she could barely keep up with Yahiko, especially with her kimono. She gritted her teeth and continued to follow Yahiko only to stop abruptly at the scene before here.

"You better watch where you're going you little shrimp!" cried out outraged girl as she tried to pick herself up from her fall after running into Yahiko.

"What? You're the one who bumped into me, Ugly!" yelled Yahiko back indignantly.

"Yahiko!" she reprimanded as she tried to help the young woman up. She seemed to be wearing a peculiar sort of clothing. She turned to Yahiko. "That is not proper behavior towards girls," she scolded. She turned to the angry and distracted young woman. "I'm so sorry," she apologized. "We were in a bit of a hurry..." she drifted off as she thought of Aoshi Shinomori. She was afraid they might have lost him.

She almost wept with frustration. Their one lead to finding Kenshin!

"Damn!" the girl muttered, surprising Kaoru enough to look back at her again.

"I lost sight of him!" she continued to exclaim to herself. "Himura, you big, red-haired loser!" she shouted as she got up.

Only to be held back as Kaoru grabbed on to her clothing.

Himura? she thought. Did she hear correctly?

"You," Kaoru whispered, looking intently into the girl's eyes, "you know Kenshin Himura?" A wave of heat flushed her face as hope blossomed uncontrollably within her chest. "Could it be that you know Kenshin?" she asked again. "Please, please. Tell me," she implored as thoughts of Aoshi Shinomori were all but forgotten.

He paused, just slightly, from his purpose.

There it was again.

The faint almost indiscernible smell of jasmines.

He looked back behind him and saw a sea of faces, surging like waves as people went about their daily routines. He saw no familiar face, no recognizable figure. Chastising himself for even thinking that it might have been that woman, he purposely strode towards his original direction. He wondered if the scent of those flowers will forever remind him of that woman.

Of course it couldn't have been her. Of all the cities in Japan and all the streets in Kyoto, the possibility that Kamiya would be in the same city in the same street as he was in this particular time was small to none.

But then…she wasn't in Tokyo. That dojo of hers had been empty except for the presence of Megumi.

And Saito had said that Battousai was in Kyoto.

He stopped in his tracks again, looking back once more. If Kamiya was near, then Battousai must be too. He couldn't see her straying far from the hitokiri.

Except maybe in those times she spent with the Oniwaban group. In those times, she had been quite decidedly alone.

FLASHBACK

"Aoshi Shinomori," her voice drifted to him as she looked at him with her azure eyes.

For the umpteenth time, he asked himself why he revealed his presence. Why now? Why this time when he had always just watched her from afar before?

The first time he had seen her at this place, he had noticed her scent first. He had known there was something different when he came to visit the graves. There was a lingering scent in the air. It smelled somewhat familiarly like…jasmines.

He had frowned as he hurried along the usual path he took to visit his friends. His hands instinctively reached for his swords as he ran down the path quietly. But in the end, he stopped quite a distance away when he saw her figure.

He recognized her at once.

What was she doing here? More importantly, how did she find this place?

He had been tempted to go to her, to demand answers, but something had stopped him.

Maybe it was her respectful silence as she stared at his friends' graves. Or maybe it was the delicate way her hands stroked the headstones as she whispered words he couldn't hear to his comrades. Or maybe it was in the way she held herself together with what remained of her tattered courage.

She was afraid of something.

He could see it in the way she jumped at every little noise. The way she hugged herself as the wind blew.

And so he studied her.

All the times she had come here, he had watched her.

What was she afraid of?

Now, as she looked at him with wary eyes, his mind began to formulate an idea. Had she been, in fact, all this time afraid of him?

He stepped forward and noticed her instinctive step back until she braced against one of the headstones.

A breeze swept through, tangling her hair and molding her kimono. He watched as she tucked a stray strand behind her ears. Her discomfiture screamed at him, but he ignored it.

He wanted to ask what she was doing. Why she came here almost religiously. Instead, he remained silent and stared at her.

"I've…" she began, "I've come to pay my respects," she said hurriedly, an answer to his unasked question.

He raised his brow and looked at her consideringly. Again, he remained silent almost for the perverse pleasure of unnerving her. It only seemed fair since he found her presence here…odd.

He watched as she licked her lips and attempted to speak, only to back down. At this rate, they would be here forever.

"Does Battousai send his woman to fight his battles?" he taunted, knowing full well that the hitokiri-turned-rurouni would be more than appalled at the thought. Besides, he knew that Battousai was not here and had never been here with this woman.

"No!" her reply was loud and immediate. "He," she began, as if searching for words, "he—"

"He doesn't know you're here," he finished for her.

Her neck snapped back up to look at him. "Of course he does," she protested weakly before her eyes looked away.

She wasn't a very good liar and from the way she refused to meet his eyes, he knew that she knew she wasn't a good liar.

"You don't have to worry," he said, looking past her and at the graves before him. "My fight is with Battousai and Battousai alone." He gave her a piercing look. "I don't need a hostage to win against him."

He heard more than saw her almost inaudible sigh of relief. And yet, that look still refused to leave her eyes. It was the look of a prey when watching its hunter.

He was right. She was afraid of him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, almost to herself, but he was sure she had intended for him to hear it.

He remained silent. Was this her pity surfacing again? He'd rather have her fear than her pity.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your friends," she continued. "They…they—,"

"You will cease talking about them," he interrupted her curtly, as his mind crowded with the images of his lost comrades.

Shikijo.

Hyottoko.

Beshimi.

Hannya.

"Their fates are none of your concern," he informed her coldly. Unfortunately, his eyes chose that moment to stray towards the flowers she had laid upon the graves.

Why had she done this?

He watched her bite her lip, as if to stop herself from saying more.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you," she finally said. "I won't come anymore, if that's your wish," she said softly.

She gave flowers to the graves of men she never knew.

"I don't care," he replied, walking away. He needed to get away from this woman. There was something about her. He must never forget that her first and foremost concern in the health of Battousai. And the health of Battousai…did not agree with him.

"Do what you wish. It matters not to me," he lied. And unlike her, he was a very good liar.

That was the last time he watched her.

END FLASHBACK

He knew she returned to the graves, but he had made it a point to leave once he noticed her presence. Even when she came without his knowledge, her fresh scent always lingered, betraying her presence. Furthermore, he would notice the flowers that adorned the stones once in awhile. Flowers he had never placed.

Not until Battousai is defeated.

Not unitl they become the 'strongest' of men.

Then and only then would he adorn the graves with flowers of victory.

Which was why, he needed to contact Okina. To find Battousai.

But until then, Kamiya's flowers suited him well.

Next Chapter: After the fight with Okina…a meeting at the Aoiya