Farther Away-

Chapter 4

Rejection

Okay, I AM SO, SO SORRY! I got in trouble and was kicked off the computer for all of last week. PLEASE FORGIVE ME! Anyway, this is a pretty long chapter, so it almost makes up for the lateness, right? Maybe? No?

Rejection

Back at the campsite, Kaoru sat on the steps of her dorm, her head in her hands. She couldn't stop worrying. They've been gone for a little over a day...shouldn't they be back by now? She thought. Yahiko isn't ready for a real war...I shouldn't have let him go! Oh, I hope he's okay...it'll be my fault if he gets hurt! He couldn't die, could he? No, he's stronger than that...What about Kenshin? What if he changes? Comes home completely different? No, Kenshin wouldn't...he promised. He'll be okay. But what about Sano? He can't use a sword…he can only fistfight...

Kaoru sat on the steps, unmoving, for hours, worries like these floating through her mind, until she heard someone yell, "Kaoru!" She looked up, and found herself looking right into Misao's smiling face.

"Oh, Misao…" Kaoru muttered, "Good to see you. How'd you find me? Oh, Kenji! Did you recognize her?" for the first time, she noticed Kenji standing right next to Misao.

"No." Kenji said, shaking his head.

"I saw him." Misao said, still smiling. "I wasn't sure who he was, he just looked so much like Kenshin I thought…"Misao suddenly stopped talking, and the smile slid off her face. Kaoru was crying. "Kaoru, are you okay?"

"What do you think!" Kaoru yelled. "My husband went to fight in a war! He has a two-year-old son, and he still left! Then my only apprentice, who probably wasn't ready, went too! And then a man who's practically my brother left after that! Do you think I'm okay!" Kaoru glared up at Misao, her face coated in tears. "I'm so sorry, Misao, I just…"Kaoru suddenly broke down and began to cry so hard she couldn't speak.

Misao sat down next to her, and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Kenji sat down next to his mother, and grabbed her hand. They sat with Kaoru while she cried, and waited for everyone to come back.

It was very late in the afternoon when a sentry called, "They're back!" The effect was immediate. Women and children ran out of buildings and to the edge of the woods, where they looked for friends and loved ones. Some women were already crying by the side of the road, because they had not seen their husbands walk past.

Kaoru, of course, found Kenshin in record time. He looked tired, but otherwise perfectly okay. "Kenshin!" Kaoru ran to him, threw her arms around his neck and gave him a light kiss. "I love you! I'm so glad you're okay! Oh, Sano!" He looked as tired as Kenshin did, but he was pretty badly battered. Nothing fatal, though. Kaoru ran over to Sano, and gave him a huge bear hug. Then she noticed Aoshi. He showed no emotion, as usual. She only nodded to him, but Misao ran to Aoshi and started chattering animatedly about all sorts of nonsense. "Oh, Kenshin!" Kaoru said, noticing who was missing. "Where's Yahiko?"

Kenshin looked down at the ground, a pained expression on his face. "Sessha…..Sessha is…..so sorry, Kaoru-dono."

Kaoru's eyes widened. Kenshin hadn't used the honorific on her name since he had proposed. It was a bad sign. "Kenshin." Kaoru put her hands on her hips are glared daggers at him. "Two things. Number one: I've always told you not to call me Kaoru-dono for a long, long time. So stop. Number two: I want to know, and you're going to tell me. Where is Yahiko?"

"Yahiko was…umm…hurt." Kenshin stuttered. "He was…..stabbed in the stomach……He should be in the hospital."

Without a word, Kaoru scooped Kenji up and grabbed Kenshin's ponytail. Pulling Kenshin, and carrying Kenji, she sprinted towards the hospital. They were followed closely by Sano. He was followed by Misao, who was dragging Aoshi.

"Ouch! Kaoru! Oro! Orororororo! Oro….." Kenshin muttered, trying to run sideways. By the time they reached the hospital, he had fainted.

Kaoru threw him roughly to the ground and yelled, "Kenshin! Wake up!" Kenshin was up on his feet in a second. This time Kaoru grabbed his hand and, still carrying Kenji, dragged him into the hospital.

She immediately saw Sakura, and rushed over to her, only to find she was tending to Yahiko. He was a total mess, to say the least. His gi had been taken off, and there was a small but deep pus-filled hole in the center of his stomach. There was no blood around it, but there was a faint red tinge, as though it had just been cleaned off. As Kaoru looked farther, there was a sign of blood. His top of his hakima was covered in dried dark red blood.

As though she sensed someone watching her from behind, Sakura turned to look at them, a blood-covered rag in her hand. "Oh, Kaoru! How are you?"

"Fine. How is Yahiko!" Kaoru said hurriedly. She gave Kenji to Kenshin and ran up to Yahiko's bedside.

"I'm so sorry to tell you this, Kaoru, but if he does live, he won't be able to fight anymore. But if he's lucky, he might be able to take it back up in five or more years. But still, his chances of surviving are low, too. His wound is very deep, and it's infected."

"Um…thanks, Sakura…." Kaoru muttered. "We'll come check up on him every now and then. Tell us if anything happens, okay? ……Well….see you later." She abruptly turned around, and walked out the door. Kenshin put Kenji down and ran after her.

"Hmm. We should catch up." Sano said. "Don't worry about her. She'll be fine. Thanks, Sakura." We waved goodbye and walked outside, followed by Misao, who was carrying Kenji, and Aoshi, who looked like he would run off at any second if Misao wasn't there.

Sano had totally forgotten where Kaoru dorm was, so they wandered around for thirty minutes, until they saw Kenshin's red hair, and they followed it like a beacon.

When they reached him, he was looking at something in his hand, and looked more tired than ever. No, not tired. He looked like he was going to collapse. "She….locked Sessha out." Kenshin muttered, quickly sliding the object in his hand out of view, making sure no one saw it. He walked slowly away, heading in the direction of their dorms. Then, he turned around, looking like he forgot something. "Oh, you do Sessha a favor?"

"Sure!" She said, a smile on her face.

"This One is worried about Kaoru. Could you and Kenji try to cheer her up?"

"No problem! C'mon Kenji! Onward, to victory! We shall cheer up the grumpy lady!" Misao said, and immediately turned and banged on Kaoru's door.

"She'll be fine!" Sano said, slapping Kenshin on the back.

"She…..Sessha….supposes so….but this one may never know….." Kenshin muttered as he walked away from her dorm, his bangs covering his eyes, so Sano couldn't see the tears forming in them.

" Kaoru!" Misao yelled as she knocked on her door. She had been standing there for ten minutes, and there had still no response. "Hey, Kenji," Misao whispered, "Start crying and begging for your mom, 'kay? Just don't say I told you to. Go ahead."

One short minute later, Kenji was bawling as loud as he could. "Mommy! sob Where are you, Mommy? sob, sob Mommy!" Then he broke off, into a loud trail of endless sobs.

Kaoru finally opened the door. She grabbed Kenji, and waved Misao inside. "Come on in. It's what you wanted, wasn't it?" Misao walked in and sat on one of Kaoru's roommates futon.

"Why'd you kick Kenshin out?" Misao asked.

"Didn't want to talk to him."

"Why?"

"Yahiko."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Misao asked.

"He couldn't protect Yahiko. Him and Sano couldn't do it….even working together. Why couldn't they just….care about more than just themselves for a while? Kenshin knew how important Yahiko was to me…..and to Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu…..but he let him get hurt, and now he won't even live! He was too young, and I knew it….but I still let him go…he just…wanted to fight so much, he….wouldn't let me say no."

"And how, exactly, is this Kenshin's fault?" Misao asked.

"Are you blaming it on me!" Kaoru asked, her voice icy cold.

"No! It's no one's fault!" Misao said. "Yahiko wouldn't let you say no, so he fought. Now, I want you to think about this-on the battlefield, would Yahiko let Sano and Kenshin shadow him like a pair of bodyguards? No, he'd end up fighting them. And Sano and Kenshin had to protect themselves."

"I guess." Kaoru muttered. "If you say so."

Once Aoshi left, which didn't take very long, Sano and Kenshin retreated to their dorm.

"Do you think Yahiko's going to be okay?" Sano asked, trying to break the icy silence.

"He's tough…..won't give up easily…." Kenshin muttered.

"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that he's injured real bad." Sano said. "What do you think his chances of living are?"

"Well, if Sessha had to guess….." Kenshin muttered, looking at the ground, "He would say that Yahiko……that he…probably…..won't."

YAY! I'M DONE TYPING! See, that was long (for me, anyways,) wasn't it? Okayses, the next chapter should be up next weekend, since I don't think I have anything to do. Well, I'll get it up. It's not as long as this one! But still—click that purple button in the corner, and I'll type a lot faster:D—inuwolf04