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Cave In
by: MrFoshizzlePro
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Rurouni Kenshin is soul property of the genius mind of Nobuhiro Watsuki.
Chapter 2
"Hey, watch where your steppin', Vixen!"
"Me? How about you watch who your shoving, you blasted Rooster-head!"
"Now, now everyone...let's not argue, okay?"
"Kenshin? Kenshin! I can't see!"
"Welcome to the club, busu. Congratulations! You just won your 'Pointing-out-the-obvious' badge!"
"Shut up!"
Bonk
"Oroooo!"
"Oh, Kenshin! I'm sorry! I meant to hit Yahiko."
"Calm your horses," Sanosuke said, rummaging through his jacket pockets blindly. "If my hunch is correct, I should have a box of matches somewhere in one of my pockets..."
"Oro? Matches?" Kenshin blinked.
"Why in the world would you have matches on you?" Kaoru questioned anxiously. Though it went unseen, Sanosuke's eye slightly twitched. "Ah-here they are!" He pulled out the box and smirked triumphantly. He fumbled through the box until he grasped one of the matches with his fingers and picked it out. "Alright! Now all we need is something we can light..."
"Oro!"
"Kenshin! Are you okay?"
The rurouni had fallen onto the ground, rubbing his head, wincing. "Sessha is not sure. I feel like something just hit me upside the head, that I did." Curious, he felt around upon the stone floor until his fingertips touched what felt like wood. Running his hand over it, Kenshin discovered it was some type of torch and that there were two of them lying side-by-side.
Kenshin picked both the torches up and struggled to his feet. He murmured, intrigued, "These torches don't seem to have been used at all, that they most certainly do not." He looked up into the face of darkness and called out to Sanosuke. "Sano!" he called. "I found two torches we could light!"
"Great!" Sanosuke began to edge his way toward the sound of his friend's voice. "Just stay where you are, Kenshin. Keep talking until I find ya!"
"Oro?" Kenshin scratched his head, perplexed. "Talk about what?" he asked.
"Anything!"
He shook his head, sighing. "Sessha feels like he is only granted talking permission for personal gain, that I do. This is a most awkward situation..."
"Found ya!"
Sanosuke felt his hand finally come in contact with someone's shoulder. He grinned. "Hey, Kenshin?" he began. "This you?" He recieved a sharp blow to the face in response. "You idiot!" It was Kaoru. "Kenshin is right next to me, thank you." Muttering, she added, "Stupid..."
Kenshin stepped in front of Kaoru and handed over the torches. He chuckled, sweatdropping. "Here you go, Sano," he said. "These are the torches sessha found, they are." Sanosuke dipped his head greatfully to the rurouni, took the match and striked it across the box's surface.
Snt!
The match lit as fast as a candle. Sanosuke quickly took the torches and lit them both, watching the burning embers turn red and the flames flicker to life. Now, they were finally able to see. He gave Kenshin the second torch, telling him, "Take this. You're probably more capable of watching a torch than the other three." Kenshin nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Sano."
And so, they began to explore their shelter.
Kenshin stared up in wonderment at the stalagmite hanging down like icicles from the cave's roof. Never before had he seen rocks so long, jagged and spiked. He was surprised they were able to withstand the gravity that would one day bring them down.
"This is a most interesting cave," he whispered. "That it is." Something nudged him from the side, causing him to smack into the stone wall slightly. He looked and saw it was Yahiko. "Hey, don't waste your breath sight-seeing," the boy told Kenshin. "There ain't nothing here except a bunch of dumb old rocks! Why waste time looking at rocks that you could see any day when you could be wasting your time hanging out with the busu?" At this, Yahiko snickered.
Kenshin looked at the boy with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean by that, Yahiko?" he asked. Yahiko replied, "I mean, just go and talk to her, wouldya!" He shook his spikey head. "Sheesh, your such a hopeless romance, Kenshin..."
BONK!
"OUCH!" Yahiko gripped his head.
"Shut up and leave poor Kenshin alone, Yahiko!" Kaoru demanded. "In case you didn't notice, I've been walking right behind you two nearly the entire time. Kenshin can talk to me any time he chooses, so quit bugging him about it, would you?"
The pupil grumbled something under his breath before trailing away in Sanosuke's direction, leaving Kenshin and Kaoru alone together.
Kenshin smiled. "Miss Kaoru?"
"Y-yes?" Kaoru glanced at him hurriedly, blushing in embarrassment at her sudden haste. He shut his eyes and continued to smile. "It would seem that we finally have some alone time together, that we do. Would you like to talk about something?"
"Oh..." Her blue eyes wandered around. Sure enough, she discovered that he was right. Then, she smiled and returned her gaze back to him. The light from the flaming torch danced across Kenshin's face and into his brilliant violet eyes. She said, "Um...well-what would you like to talk about, Kenshin? You always seem to ask me what I want to talk about...so, what would you like to talk about?"
He blinked, but once the understanding shone across his face, he smiled once more and stared on ahead. "Now that you mention it, there is something sessha would like to ask of you." Kaoru watched his facial expression change instantly and knew this must be something serious. "Yes?" she urged him. Now, she was dying to know, and not knowing what he wanted to ask was killing her.
He went on. "I was wondering, Miss Kaoru, if maybe after this you would like to-"
"WATCH OUT YOU TWO!"
"Huh?"
"ORO?"
Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake. The stalagmite quivered above, bits and pieces of rock decending and crashing onto the stone floor. Realization dawned upon Kenshin, but the realization had struck him too late as large chunks of rock began falling downward toward him and Kaoru.
Owari