A/N: The last chapter was so short because I was on the road and happened to come by a computer basically. So, this one will be longer than the last.
IV
Settled on the steps, Sojiro drew his head up at the sight of Kaoru coming down with several women around her. The nice dress that he complimented her on was a complete wreck for whatever reason that the dinner was all over her. She had her head ducked as she passed him, the women turning to look at why he was sitting there. Kaoru just kept going. She was a little mad. She was having a very nice dinner when she got interrupted; and it was her favorite dress too.
She was taken out back of the palace where a tub was being filled with hot water by several workers. She was feeling more pampered every moment. When the bathwater was in the tub, they set up a partition to the side that faced the wall to the outside of the palace. The ladies lead Kaoru to the tub and helped her undress.
" I can do it myself..." she said, slightly irritated. They looked upon one another, then to the sound of Sojiro's voice interpreting what Kaoru had just said. They bowed their heads, one placing her night gown over the top of the partition as they scurried away. Sojiro had his back turned to her, knowing that she wouldn't want to be seen as she slipped into the tub of hot water.
" Miss Kaoru..." Sojiro said. " Why is your pretty dress a mess?"
" It was something at dinner, that's all." She told him. All the while she was looking over head to the stars appearing in the night sky the further the sun sank. She smiled and leaned into the water.
" He got really mad."
Sojiro's silohette was visable on the other side of the partition. " Who?"
" Battosai."
" His Majesty? For what?"
" He was messy too. It got all over him. His face was red and everything."
" Well, were you mad?"
" It was a human mistake. I can get over it," Kaoru admitted. She went into the water to get all the rest of the food out. It started to float around her, but she hardly paid any attention to it. " I don't know if he will though. He was really mad at them. Yelling and everything."
" He won't punish them too badly. He cares for all his employees. They do not upset His Majesty."
Kaoru pondered. Everyone revered him so much. She still did, seeing as the power he had he could do anything he wanted to her. Even if he didn't seem to be the person to do that sort of thing. She noticed that everyone was careful around him, even more so than any king is usually treated.
" Why do you always say ' His Majesty?' You said you were in his elite circle. Why can't you call him Battosai?"
" Because. His Majesty is a God. He keeps our peace. His emotion is our weather."
" A God?"
" You did not realize this? I would have thought that somebody would tell you. Especially since you are a foreigner. I mean you no offense." Sojiro was being delicate as he chose his words.
" No, they didn't. But, what do you mean. Is it like he holds the God inside him? Or he himself is the God?"
" In a way, both. If it is inside him, it is him. That is just how it is," Sojiro cleared his throat lightly. " I don't know if you haven't noticed Miss Kaoru, but His Majesties feet have never touched this filthy ground of the mortals."
Kaoru's head jerked slightly at what Sojiro had just said. She tried to recall something, and she was able. " But, when he greeted me. His feet were on the steps of the throne," she recalled.
" The throne has been purified by the High Priest. It's one of the few places His Majesty is able to get away with something like that."
" But, when he came to dinner.."
" He had a special pair of shoes made," Sojiro paused for a moment. " I know this all seems strange. But, he is the only royal blood in thousands of years to have the God ascended upon him. He is a blessed soul. And, we take that as much as we can. It means that, as long as His Majesty lives and breaths, he will keep us safe. We have the Gods looking over us.
" Let me tell you how it was found out. When he was a mere child, five monthes is said, the High Priest was able to see into his soul and tell the world. He learned to walk in those shoes. On the small platform that they held It is thin enough, and it is high enough, that any evil forces that wold wish to take over his body would not be able to get through it. Don't get me wrong, he has touched ground, only a little bit though. It is an odd feelign anytime another body part does touch for him. But, he is cleansed shortly after."
" Doesn't he ever feel trapped?"
" I would not know Miss Kaoru. You must ask His Majesty directly if you want to know that."
Kaoru just sank further into the water.
---
Up high in the palace, where the moon delicately broke through the open walls, Battosai strode into the large room. His feet echoed, proving that the room eas how he wanted it. Wanting it in a silence; in privacy. He smiled starting to take off the cloth around is waist. His other dirtied garments had been taken by the palace employees to be washed. He got to the top of the steps, looking into the steaming water, between the soft foam that the native oils made, to a picture of himself. It was distorted of course. But, he touched the tear drop shaped pendant that hung on golden chain around his head. It was like a crown. He shook his head and sat on the edge of the tub, taking off his shoes and willingly slipping in. Almost immediately he fel tit sink in. His tense muscles starting to unkink.
He sunk into the water, his long red hair circling about his head as he did. He smiled lightly. Turning to look out the window, he saw the small rubber thing that Kaoru requested that he have as a gift. He picked it up and looked at it, almost with frustration. Battosai squeezed it, and the sound that came out made him jump. What was this thing? What had Kaoru called it? A rubber duck? As it landed in the water, Kenshin had sunk to where his eyes were at it's level. The painted black eyes and the stupid little smile made him cringe. From his place, he flung his foot up and knocked the duck as far as it would go.
At the moment he did, someone's shoes clattered on the marble, the ki ever strong. Battosai turned, the duck falling from it's high spot to whack him over the head, sqeeking in it's victory. Battosai hid the duck, shoving it into water as High Priest Shishio approached.
" My Lord," he said, gracefully bowing as he still walked toward the red head. Kenshin came up a little more from the water, his face on a more serious note with the High Priest in his precense.
" Thank you for comign Shishio. On such a short notice anyway."
" It is no problem at all. Especially summoned by you Your Majesty."
Battosai looked Shishio over, deducing well that he was in the middle of a ritual by his clothing. His face was covered by a mask, though his red pupils were visable. Long ago did he get burned by his own magics, Battosai hardly old enough to be able to see Shishio's form beforehand. He was burned in the ceremony that deemed the small child a God.
" I hope I didn't interrupt anything too.., powerful," Battosai searched for the right words.
" Again, only summoned by you might I," he cleared his throat. " Now, what have you brought me here for?"
" I'm concerned," Shishio nodded mechanically.
" About, this young woman's arrival?" he asked. Battosai's shoulders dropped as he grabbed one of the rags on the edge of the bath. Since Shishio received no response, he continued to speak more. " She has a very stragne aura, if I do say so myself."
Battosai had one eye open to see his expression. " And, is it menacing in anyway, or is it the aura of her culture?"
" They are very similar Battosai..." the emperor was ready to hiss when he heard that. Kaoru was an exception seeing as she wasn't allowed to know his true name. As a code or what not. But that Shishio used it and knew that he disapproved was more than an upset.
" Please, no formalities Shishio," he almost begged.
" Alright, Kenshin."
The red head raised a leg up after he turned his back to Shishio. The priest had a jar pulled from his robes as he walked over to Kenshin. The emperor let the rag drop, and his grip tightened on the duck in his other hand. " What are you doing?" he asked.
" I got this as I was summoned by your Zanza," he explained. Kenshin looked over as he started to pour whatever the material was into the bath. Biting his lip, Kenshin waded backward as the smoke, an ugly color, began to rise in a contained area. Shishio pushed the smoke and swirled the water gently. That was when Kenshin wadeed back to see. He saw...himself in the water. But in clothes that were more what Sojiro would wear. He was confused as the images moved, one by one. Kaoru was behind him as he was brought to what looked to be a grand staircase of some sort. That was when the image skipped, to him yelling at something; still in the nice clothes, but they looked a little more torn than the image before
" You seem disheartened." Shishio admitted. Kenshin merely turned away, returning to the other end of the bath. He was a little mad since whatever Shishio had just shown him was strange, but there was no reason to doubt the mighty priest. The water was returned to the jar, and his bath was normal again.
Still clutching the rubber duck as hard as he could, Kenshin whipped back around to Shishio, his eyes glowing slightly. " You have any idea what that might mean. Or is it just a vision?"
Shishio shrugged lightly, but never left the place that he was stationed in while the emperor's eyes were on him. Before long, Kenshin realized that he had no more need of Shishio in his precense and dismissed him. But, Shishio didn't go without saying something, as he always did.
" Whether or not you believe this vision, My Lord, I hope you might keep an eye on your new tutor."
Kenshin finally let go of the duck, it flying high in the air as it was under so long. When it was finished surfacing, it bobbed and still stared at him. There was something about it that he liked. He touched it again, and squeezed it. Now that he had heard it, it was actually a very funny sound. It was enough entertainment for him to momentarily forget that Shishio was ever in his precense.
Finally, he got out of the bath. At this time, the moon was large in the sky, the little stars like diamonds next to it. He wrapped a towel around his waist, sitting on the edge of the bath and putting on the same shoes that Sojiro was trying to describe to Kaoru. On the other side of the bath was his night clothes. While he dressed, there was a humming coming from the area, but not in the bath. Kenshin stalked over to the window and looked down. There was a leg swinging, and the voice could have only been Kaoru's. Not many people would wander to such a place in the palace.
---
Down where Kenshin had seen Kaoru sitting, she was reading. Unconsciously the singing was coming out. Her hair had dried, and she had it tied in a braid hanging over her shoulder. After long wandering in the palace she found this nice place where she could see the moon so clearly. This was the only place Kaoru had seen it this big, and was able to see it through open windows.
Wood clattering on the pavement alerted her, and her head drew up to the left where it came from. She saw the feet first. The same shoes that Sojiro describe to her. They were wooden, with blocks that were maybe three inches thin, and they were about half a foot tall. When she looked all the way up to see that it was emperor before her, and her in her night where and undergarments almost visable, she crossed her arms to hide her chest.
" I'm indecent!" she yelled. Kenshin twisted his face to the words.
In his own language he said. " You have no need to hide such a beautiful body, that you do not."
" I don't know what you're saying," she admitted.
" I do not know what you are saying." He said.
Kenshin came closer to her, examining the features that he would probably never see again. All the while, Kaoru was stuck on his hair being wet and sticking to his face. She started to blush again, and turned her head away.
" You do not need to hide from the moon." He told her. Kaoru turned to where he had put his hand. She smiled.
" It is pretty isn't it?"
Kenshin caought about half of what she said.
" Soht."
" What?"
" Soht mean yes." He told her in English.
" Soht means yes?" Kaoru repeated. Kenshin nodded his head.
" Soht."
" Yes." Kaoru said.
" Very good," though that was heavily accented and hard to understand. Kaoru stood in front of him and nodded.
" Pemtu ah."
" Sher vanx," he responded. Kaoru began to leave, but turned over her shoulder. Kenshin had his head turned to the moon, and he sat on the ledge. The moon light brought out a lot more in him then she had saw earlier in that day. She blushed when he turned to her and bowed in respect. Kenshin nodded his head as she started to run off.
" What does Shishio he want me to watch?"
A/N:So Kaoru is trouble? We'll see won't we?
Your Zanza- when Shishio said this, zanza means general.
Sher vak- it means your welcome.
Till next time. KenSan out!
