Kenshin had finished packing hours ago, and he was sitting on the porch behind the house. The guests were long gone, the two younger girls and Yahiko were asleep, and everything was peaceful. He allowed his eyes to close and he absorbed the peacefulness of the whole moment. He was about to plunge himself into something that was guaranteed to be bloody, and he wanted to remember his life here.
He ehard the door slide open behind him, and Dr. Gensai lowered himself next to the younger man with a grunt. He copied Kenshin's pose – his hands behind him as he leaned back, staring at the stars – and sighed happily.
"Today was a good day."
Kenshin nodded in agreement.
"You are leaving tomorrow." The doctor's voice was mild, as if he was commenting on the weather.
"Yes."
"To look for this Shishio person?"
"Yes."
A moment of silence ensued, slightly uncomfortable to Kenshin. He didn't know what else to say.
"What about Kaoru?"
And that was the heart of Kenshin's problem. He didn't know what to say to Kaoru, how, or even when. He's leaving tomorrow and he felt that he has to tell her, knowing full well that with her attitude towards him right now she was just as likely to slam a door in his face than give him…give him what? He almost chuckled. What would she give him, even if every comment he made weren't met by a stony glare from her? A tearful good-bye? Kaoru was too strong for that. What he would have expected her to do was insist either he not do it at all, or that she come with him, neither being good options. So, in all reality, Kenshin is better off not telling her at all.
But he wanted to so badly.
"I don't know." He answered truthfully.
Dr. Gensai gave him a sympathetic look, patted his shoulder, and walked away. Before he closed the door, he turned around to meet Kenshin's amber-violet eyes. "Good luck, and have a safe flight. Don't come back here with amnesia again," he teased.
Kenshin gave him a half smile in response. "I'll try not to." Thinking about the last time he was on a plane should have terrified him enough to not want to jump on any sort of flying contraption in a good while, but for some reason, he was eager to fly again. Eager to go home. No, he mentally corrected himself, not home. Here is home. Eager to get this over and done with so I can return here.
He was so wrapped in his thoughts he didn't hear the door open again, the soft pad falls of bare feet, not the rustling of clothes as someone lowered themselves next to him. Only the scent of jasmine alerted him to her presence.
He jerked his head up in surprise. She hadn't approached him in a month, yet she was sitting next to him as if all was fine in the world. The only indicators of her unease were the tense set of her shoulders and her hard line of her jaw. He so wanted to brush her jaw line with his fingers and wipe away that hardness, make her the soft Kaoru he knows.
They sat in an uncomfortable silence, the air seeming to get heavy with words left unsaid and with feelings too complicated to sort and fix in one night. No words can erase these feelings nor describe them.
"Kaoru…"
She never raised her head to acknowledge that he had spoken. He stood with a small sigh, about to give up, when an irrational desire to see her face filled his every cell. Instead of turning away from her, he instead went down the stairs and stood in front of her. She looked away, but he firmly grasped her chin in his hand and made her look at him. She stared at him defiantly, but she didn't look away or smack his hand.
He released his hold on her and took a step back. "Kaoru, I'm leaving."
Kaoru's face fell, her vulnerability showing clearly on her face for a second before her walls were back up. "Why? Aren't you happy here?"
"I am," he answered truthfully. He would have been happier if she hadn't avoided him in the past month, but beggars can't be choosers. "But I have a duty to uphold."
He mouth popped open. "You're going after Shishio."
Kenshin nodded, and looked away from her. He worked his jaw, trying to think of something else to say, but gave up. He instead leaned down and kissed her cheek, as a mother would to a child. "Good bye, Kaoru." He whispered then disappeared into the house.
Kaoru sat outside for another hour, her hand on her the place where his lips still warmed her cheek.
-x-
Kenshin sat up groggily, the blaring of his alarm making him curse under his breath. It was 4:30 a.m. and he had to get to the airport three hours before the flight because it was an international flight. Swiping his hand over his tired eyes, he got up and proceeded to the bathroom, where he had a quick shower in cold water to wake himself. He changed into jeans and a white button down and grabbed his duffel, took one more look at the room and the place he now calls home, and walked out of the house into the lightening darkness.
Kenshin had his head resting on the back of the seat when he felt someone bounce into the seat next to him. He cracked an eye and almost jumped out of his seat when his eyes met a pair of very familiar green ones.
"Hey Himura!"
Kenshin stared at the small girl next to him in astonishment. "Misao, what are you doing here?"
"I listened to your conversation with Katusra-san and booked a seat on the same flight as you!" She answered, a little to cheerily. Kenshin groaned and rubbed his temples. "Isn't this exciting?" Misao bounced up and down in her seat, and Kenshin stared at her in astonishment.
"How is this exciting?"
"I've never been out of the country before! And we are going to Tokyo! Tokyo! How fun!"
Kenshin was just finding out that this would be a long eight-hour flight. He sank into his seat in exhaustion.
-x-
"Kaoru?"
It was mid morning, and the teenager hadn't left her room yet, something very strange for the normal early riser. Megumi poked her head into Kaoru's dimly lit room to see a lump under her covers. She sighed and closed the door, looking into the deep brown eyes of Sanosuke Sagara.
"I think she's sick." Megumi whispered as they walked towards the kitchen. "But I haven't seen Ken yet either, so I wonder if the two are related in some way?"
"Kenshin isn't here?" Sano exclaimed, his genuine astonishment showing on his face.
Megumi frowned. "No, you don't know where he went?"
Sano shook his head vigorously. "Nah, he hasn't told me nothin'"
Megumi tapped her chin, her brow furrowing. "Strange…"
At that moment, two little bobbing heads zoomed into the kitchen, screaming and laughing.
"Tag, you're it!" Cried Ayume as she touched her sister's back.
"I'm it!" Suzume answered, giggling in glee. Without stopping, the two ran back out of the room, the younger sibling chasing the older. Dr. Gensai stood to the side as his two granddaughters sped past him, a gentle smile on his face.
"Young ones are so energetic," He said with a chuckle. "I don't know where they get so much energy!"
"It's all those sugary cereals you're always giving them." Megumi replied huffily. She disapproved of the girls eating Cocoa Puffs and Captain Crunch.
"But it makes them so happy!"
Megumi sighed in defeat. After a few minutes of silence, Megumi fixed her mentor with a stern gaze. "Dr. Gensai, do you know where Kenshin is?"
"Yes."
Megumi and Sano waited for the older man to elaborate, but he started to leave after his granddaughters without preamble.
"Wait! Aren't you going to tell us where he is?"
Dr. Gensai fixed Megumi with a mischievous stare. "You never asked that."
"Where is Kenshin?" Sano growled. He was losing patience, and if his instincts were right…damn that bastard!
Dr. Gensai's demeanor became very serious and he sat in one of the chairs. "He returned to Japan."
"What?" Screeched Megumi at the same time Sano snarled, "That bastard!"
Dr. Gensai nodded solemnly. "He knows what his duty is, so he went to perform it. Don't hold it against him."
"He should have asked me for help!" Sano started to pace in his agitation, and punched the wall, leaving a hole. Dr. Gensai shook his head in exasperation, but ignored it for the time being.
"Is that why Kaoru is so out of it?" Megumi's voice held a sliver of hurt, but her tone was gentle.
"I suspect so," The older man replied, his worry showing in his eyes. "He wanted to talk to her before he left, so I sent her outside after he told me of his decision."
Megumi nodded, then marched off to the girl's bedroom, leaving Sano and Dr. Gensai. She yanked the door open and shook the girl awake. "Kaoru, get off your lazy ass right now, you stupid little raccoon! You can't be moping around after a guy you have practically ignored for the past month! You're acting like a spoiled brat and you know it."
Kaoru sat up groggily and stared at her friend with blank eyes. She looked around her room once and then collapsed against her pillows. Megumi snorted in disgust, but her features softened when she heard the girl hiccup. She sat next to her, and gently turned Kaoru's head so she faced her. Megumi saw the fresh tear tracks trailing down the girl's face, and wiped a stray strand of hair out of Kaoru's eyes.
"Shush, it's ok. It's ok."
"I i-ignored h-h-him and I h-hated him, but I couldn't hate him, I'm sorry, I-I'm s-s-s-sorry." Kaoru buried her face into Megumi's shoulder, and Megumi patted her back comfortingly.
"I know, hunny. I know."
-x-
Sano was still pacing the kitchen like a caged tiger, mumbling under his breath about Kenshin and what he'll do to the short, red-haired bastard that he barely registered a knock on the door. Dr. Gensai gave Sano a worried look, but went to answer the door.
Standing on the front porch of his house was a tall young man, his blue jeans slung low on his hips and a black tee that stretched over his broad shoulders. As he turned to face Dr. Gensai, he ground his cigarette under the heel of his shoes.
Instead of being surprised, Dr. Gensai gave the man a wide, welcoming smile, as if he had been expecting him. "Welcome home."
-x-
Kenshin had just barely fallen asleep when he was woken up – again – by Misao tapping his shoulder impatiently. First it was astonishment over the touch-screen behind the headrest of the chair in front of her, allowing her to watch a variety of movies, listen to music or watch several t.v. shows, then it was the food, then it was the clouds…Kenshin's patience was wearing thin.
"What now?" He growled, his eyes flashing a dangerous amber. Misao didn't notice, just leaned over him and pointed at the quickly approaching land mass.
"Is that Tokyo?"
A large metropolitan area was sprawled under them, skyscrapers reaching towards the sky like grasping fingers, the hustle and bustle of city life clear before them. To Kenshin, this used to be his home. To Misao, it was a whole new world, vastly different from her small island of Maui. But both looked upon this great city with a feeling of trepidation; they aren't here for holiday.
So sorry! I forgot that I had posted my first chapter *runs and hides* so here is the second! Yay! I meant for this to be for MLK day, but, alas, I'm a day late. Ah, well… though I am quite proud of myself for finishing this so quickly with the amount of work I have to do! I switiched to an English major for this term and I swear every class comes with 30 pages of reading…for the next class. So yeah, not that fun. Haha. But I still love all my classes, I guess when you're doing something you love even if it is tedious you will still enjoy it!
Any thoughts? Comments? Criticisms? Like it? Hate it? Love it?
r.e.v.i.e.w.
please?
;]