Oh my word. I have spent so much time with this chapter. And it was purely revising and editing that took up so much time. I originally had this chapter being about 2,000+ words. And the. It ended up being about 5,000+ words. Well. Hope this is compensation for me being a terrible updater!
Thanks to Jaded Holliwood, fanficnewbiee, loveless an the living fantasy, skenshingumi, KoopaTroopa2, Saki-Hime and oldie disk224 for reviewing the last chapter!
Thanks to everyone who has read, alerted and favourited! I'm thankful for your support!
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I only own this plot and my OCs.
The moment Yahiko's eyes sprang open, he dashed to Kenshin's room. He muttered incoherent apologies when he bumped into people. He dashed toward the end of the hall. He reached out and pulled on the door as hard as he could, nearly breaking it in the process. He rushed in, searching for the wanderer.
Sanosuke, hearing the commotion, slowly made his way over to Kenshin's room. He stopped at the door frame in utter shock. His eyes swept over the bare room and the young man, who was in hysterics, standing in the centre of it. "He didn't," he said softly.
Yahiko was close to tears. He anxiously searched every corner of the room, hoping Kenshin was playing a joke on them by hiding. "He's gone!" he shouted.
At the sound of Yahiko's screams, a sleep deprived Kaoru stumbled into the room. She tossed her braid over her shoulder and yawned. She blinked at the two men, shocked to see such a sullen and grim look on their faces so early in the morning. "Yahiko, what's wrong? Why are you..ahhh…screaming so early in the morning?"
The watery look on his face was replaced with pure anger and loathing. His eyes flashed murderous-ly, his mouth forming a thin line. "You and your goddamn boyfriend are what's wrong," his hissed before pushed his way out of the room.
Kaoru was very taken aback when Yahiko pushed her aside that she didn't even notice the language he used with her. She turned to Sanosuke, whose face was unreadable. She directed her gaze back to the room. She peered inside and saw a futon with the blankets folded nicely. There was nothing else in the room. Her hand flew to her mouth when she realised why Yahiko was upset. "Kenshin…left?"
Sanosuke stared ahead, his eyes wide open and he was unable to speak. He leaned back against the door frame, making sure this was not a nightmare.
Kaoru shut her eyes when Sanosuke didn't answer her. She shook her head furiously, whipping the air with her braid. She backed out of the room before her tears threatened to spill out. She sank to her knees when she backed into a wall. She hugged her knees to her chest, finally letting the tears fall.
'What have I done to you, Kenshin?'
Yoko was up bright and early that morning. She leapt out of bed and busied herself with getting ready for work. She quickly ran a comb through her short, choppy brown hair. She could see the picture of Ren sitting on her futon out of the corner of her eye.
She felt much better this morning than she did the night before. She smiled warmly at the picture, taking it with her into the drawing-room. She put it back in its place on the mall tab. She pressed a kiss on her fingers and tapped the picture with it.
"I'm off to work, Ren!" she said happily.
She grabbed a handful of biscuits and dashed out of the door. She held her hand out, munching on the biscuits. She looked around at her surroundings. Things were going better than they did the day before. She continued to eat her biscuits on her way to work. When she was done, she brushed the crumbs off her hands and picked up her pace.
She stood in front of the restaurant, hastily finger-combing her wind-blown hair and straightening her uniform. She pushed the door open and was immediately shoved into the kitchen.
Her boss, a short and balding man, tossed her an apron. He turned around, barking an order to a pair of waitresses. He glanced at Yoko with tired eyes. "Onizuka. Please do not lose your focus like you did yesterday. We cannot afford another day of complaining customers."
She shrunk a little, embarrassed that she had let her past interfere with her work. She offered a small smile and grabbed her small notepad. "No worries, Kuma-san. It will not happen again."
He sighed in relief, backing out of the kitchen. "Or else it will be your job," he said sternly.
Yoko grimly nodded, indicating that his conditions were clear. He slipped out of the kitchen, presumably to return to his office. She took a deep breath, blowing out all of the air in her lungs, blowing her hair out of her eyes in the process. She looked down at her notepad and flipped to the last page she used. She stared at the lack of orders on the page and sighed, slipping her pencil in between the pages. She stepped out of the kitchen, mentally cringing at the number of people in the restaurant.
"People really enjoy our tea…"
Megumi had also woken up bright and early and she was on her way to the dojo. She wanted to bet there for Kenshin. As she walked, she thought of what had happened the night before.
She nearly stopped walking when she remembered seeing his shimmery iris. Her blood ran cold when she began thinking of the full outcome of the battousai merging with Kenshin. She clasped her hands tightly, her eyes widening slightly. She was afraid. Afraid of what about become of Kenshin now. Anyone who passed her would have thought she was paralyzed with fear. Her face showed fear clearly. Her mouth was slightly agape in her shock. Suddenly, she clamped her mouth shut and dropped her hands by her sides, trying to get a hold of herself.
She was jumping ahead of time and had imagined the worst case scenario. Remembering the Battousai's bloody past and Kenshin's tendency to always have his sword with him, Megumi assumed the worst. That the battousai would try to take full control and go on a killing spree.
'Kenshin has self-control. He can handle himself,' Megumi told herself over and over as she walked. As much as she kept reassuring herself, she couldn't deny that it only made her move faster.
"For the billionth time!" shouted Yahiko. "Kenshin. Is. Not. Freaking. Here. Sanosuke."
The two men had spent their morning looking for the said rurouni, but their attempts so far had been fruitless. Yahiko had been muttering to himself for most of the morning, blaming various people for Kenshin's predicament starting with Kaoru and ending with the government.
Sanosuke had tried to act as the voice of reason again. He had known that upon Kenshin's arrival and finding out about Arata, both Megumi and Yahiko would both be againt Kaoru. No questions asked. They had been against Kaoru since Arata had "replaced" Kenshin, but Yahiko had somewhat understood for a while. In Sanosuke's opinion. When Arata was first introduced, the younger man had refused to speak to Kaoru for three months, only referring to her as ugly, but slowly, he had, in a way, warmed up to the idea of another guy to bond with. Or rather, he gave up on shooting daggers at Kaoru when she was with Arata.
Sanosuke watched Yahiko search for Kenshin like a mad man, thinking to himself.
'Kenshin was more hurt by Kaoru than we thought.'
Kenshin had never been one to run from a problem. Not even one that involved violence. He usually found a way around it. Sanosuke would have never guessed that Kenshin would have left Tokyo because of something Kaoru had done. He loved her too much. He had always risked his life for her. Simply running away did not sound like him at all. Kenshin would always try to find a way to make things work.
"Yahiko," said Sanosuke slowly. "Kenshin might not have left."
Yahiko immediately stopped what he was doing to stare open-mouthed at Sanosuke, wondering if he had finally gone mad. When he found his voice and Sanosuke still hadn't said anything, Yahiko nearly lost what little patience he had left.
"Of course he left!" shouted Yahiko. "Kaoru was Kenshin's world. Without Kaoru, be honest, what is he supposed to do here? In downtown Tokyo."
"I do not know," answered Sanosuke truthfully. "But we know Kenshin. Would he really run from something like this?"
"No, but-"
"But nothing," Sanosuke said firmly. "Kenshin did not leave us."
Yahiko looked up at the older man as he began to turn away and most likely turn to go back to the dojo. He found himself trotting behind him, wishing he could believe him as easily as he could follow him back to the dojo.
Kaoru was sitting on the edge of her futon since she had found out what had happened. She stared at the floor in front of her feet, her eyes wide open. Her lips were pressed together, forming a thin line. Her hands gripped the edge of her futon until her knuckles were ghostly white.
She didn't understand. It didn't seem like Kenshin was going to leave. Not after the talk they had the night before. To be honest, it seemed like they were on slightly better terms than before. He insisted that he wasn't mad at her, but now she wasn't so sure. If Kenshin had seriously left because of this…
She knit her eyebrows together, deep in concentration. Kenshin had left. If Kenshin had left because of this, then what did that say about him? She didn't want to think such thoughts about the man who put his own life on the line for her and had loved her more than he loved himself, but when she mentally pointed it out, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Kenshin leaving because of this didn't show that he was a mature grown-up about the situation. He was running away from it instead of facing it. Like a child.
She let out a soft scream, trying to stop the thoughts from flooding her mind. She didn't want her image of him to be ruined. She still respected him and she still had a special place in her heart for him. It just wasn't the place where he was before he left to help the government. She exhaled slowly, looking down at her clasped fingers. She closed her eyes and pressed her hands to her forehead, wanting everything to go back the way it was before any of this drama happened.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a pair of hands settle on her waist. She jerked her head behind her to see who had nearly given her a heart attack. She sighed and tossed her head back when she saw the familiar raven-haired man. "Arata, don't do that!" she exclaimed after he placed a kiss on her cheek.
He smiled at her, his fingers brushing stray hairs out of her face. He gazed into her eyes, his smile growing wider. "Kaoru, what's a relationship without a few surprises?"
His eyes widened at her raised eyebrows. He waved his hands, trying to take back what he had said. "T-T-That's n-not what I meant!" he stuttered. "I meant a good-natured surprise."
She smiled, sitting up. "I know what you meant." She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. She stared ahead, wanting to escape her troubles. The least she could do now was confide in someone who wasn't already mad at her. "Remember Kenshin? You met him two or three days ago."
She began to relax when she felt his fingers weave through her hair, pulling it out of its braid. "Ah, the man with the vibrant red hair? Yes, I remember him. He seems like a very nice man."
"Yeah," she said softly, remembering the number of times he had dropped what he was doing to save her. "He's not here anymore."
"Good god! He died?"
"Eh? No! I mean, he's back to wandering. I told you about his past as a wanderer, right? Well, he's back to those days," she finished.
He stayed silent. They were entering a rather sensitive territory. Anything he said could be taken the wrong way. Especially since Kenshin was the last man she had seen before him. He finger combed her hair for a minute, searching for the right words.
"How do you feel about that?"
She raised her head off of his shoulder, her sapphire orbs locking with his hazel orbs. She wasn't expecting him to ask her something like that. She had expected him to say something that indicated he was almost glad Kenshin had left. What man wanted their woman's ex around her? She didn't know how to respond to his question. She dropped her gaze to her lap, searching for how she truly felt about the situation. "I-I don't know how I feel."
Kenshin had not been able to sleep through the night. His new appearance haunted him. The reflection of his iris on the sword was permanently burned into his mind. The shimmery iris taunted him every time he closed his eyes. He could almost hear the Battousai speaking in his mind. It was driving him mad.
When he couldn't take it anymore, he folded up his blankets in a neat little pile and quietly slipped out of the dojo. Judging from the light coloured sky with streaks of pink mingling with yellow, he assumed it was pretty early. His hand hovered over his sheathed sword-a habit he had developed soon after getting it back. He touched it lightly, just to make sure. He nodded to himself and began to wander around downtown Tokyo. He hadn't wandered for his own pleasure since before he met Kaoru. He had to admit he missed it.
He stopped to take in the scene around him, relieved that the calm atmosphere was taking away a bit of the tension that the Battousai had created. He took a deep breath, looking at the sun that peeked out from behind the clouds. "The Battousai is making me feel jumpy; that it is," he said softly.
He continued walking until he found himself in the marketplace. He really didn't have any desire to go back to the dojo where he would be reminded of the Battousai. He could avoid going to the dojo for a bit longer. He looked to his left and right, appreciating all the little shops and restaurants. It made him think back to his decision of leaving Tokyo. He stopped for a moment. He had decided on leaving because there was nothing for him in Tokyo anymore. He had stayed behind for Kaoru and now that she was gone, he thought he should do the same. He wasn't as sure now. He liked having a place to stay every night. He liked the people he was surrounded by. He really didn't want to leave them.
"Should I stay?" he asked the air.
He remembered what happened yesterday when he indirectly asked someone what they thought.
"Miss Yoko," he said, letting her name roll off of his lips.
'She was the one who did not directly tell me what to do; she was. Instead, she asked a question, forcing me to really think about my decision. And now I am not sure what to do.'
He had to admit, he was leaning more toward staying now that he thought of leaving his friends again, but that didn't seem like a good enough reason to him.
Pushing all of his thoughts aside, he kept walking until he found himself in front of a restaurant. He could smell a delicious aroma tickling his nose. It smelled like sugar and tea leaves. He smiled to himself. He hadn't had good cup of tea in a long time. He walked in, greeted by a couple of people who remembered him before his job with the government.
"How may I-Kenshin-san?"
He turned at the sound of someone calling him. He smiled when he saw Yoko standing before him with a notepad. "Miss Yoko, it's very nice to see you again; that it is."
Yoko froze for a minute when she saw his eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest, suddenly feeling scared. Her gaze fell on the smile on his face. She was comforted slightly, remembering how he had saved her from assault only two days ago. She gave him a small smile before looking over her shoulder, searching for Kuma-san. When she saw that he was not in sight, she motioned at one of the other waitresses, silently asking her to cover for her. When the other waitress nodded, Yoko turned back to Kenshin, her hazel eyes sparkling lightly. "Why don't we sit down for a cup of tea?" she asked politely.
He nodded, smiling back. He picked out the same table they had sat at the day before. When he sat down, he made sure to keep his sword with him. Yoko saw his attachment with his sword and raised an eyebrow. "You are very close to your sword," she commented.
Almost instantly, his fingers curled around the hilt of the sword. "Yes. Yes I am," he replied. He looked up at her and he couldn't help but think that she looked a lot like Suzume, but older.
Her eyes lingered on his fingers on the sword, feeling a bit hesitant to be remembered She mentally shook her head, knowing that Kenshin was not the kind of man wwould perceived as scary or untrustworthy. "I will be back with your tea," she said quickly.
Kenshin nodded, watching her slip into the kitchen. He dropped his gaze down to his lap, starting to wonder to himself.
Was he making the right decision by thinking about staying in Tokyo? Would he really be better off here than he would be on the road?
His friends came to mind just as they always did when he was weighing his options. His eyebrows knit together. He paused for a moment, not thinking about anything. He resumed to thinking about his situation, glad the Battousai was not inferring as it had the night before.
He knew that he had made the decision to leave Tokyo the night before and deep down, he knew that leaving Tokyo would most likely be the best decision for everyone, but he did not wish to part with his friends. His friends had become his family in the time he was there. He didn't think he could part with them now. He already parted with them many times before. He did not wish to do so again.
Before he knew it, Yoko was back with a cup of tea and the sugar pot. She carefully set both down, being mindful that she wasn't the most graceful person ever. "How many teaspoons of sugar?" she asked.
He held his hand up, reaching for the spoon. "There is no need, Miss Yoko," he said with a small smile. "I will add the sugar myself."
She sheepishly handed him the sugar pot as well as the spoon and watched him add the sugar slowly, stirring it each time a new spoonful was added. Her eyes followed the spoon. She was slowly slipping away from the world around her and into her thoughts.
She remembered how Ren would always ask to add the sugar himself. Even when she insisted that he was tired and could barely keep his eyes open. He would always add the sugar himself. And after he was done, he would set the spoon down on a saucer and look up at her with a small smile before asking how her day was.
Tears did not make their presence in her eyes, but she felt the nostalgia hit her relatively hard. It made her lose her focus on the world around her. She blinked a couple of times when she heard her name.
"Miss Yoko, are you feeling well?" asked Kenshin, looking worried.
She gave him a sad smile, gazing at the floral design that was printed on the cup of tea. "I am not sure," she confessed. "I have been thinking lately...and I have not thought this hard in the past."
He sipped his tea slowly, giving her his undivided attention as she told him of her problem. "Thinking about what?" he asked.
The question, she had to admit, caught her off guard. She didn't expect him to take much interest in her problem or even want to know why she had a problem. The was coming from a man she didn't know very well, but she knew enough to make the decision that she trusted him enough to tell him the details. If he saved her from assault, then he couldn't be a bad person, right?
"Thinking…about someone I knew. Someone I loved," she whispered.
He gazed into her watery hazel eyes, slightly shocked. He never liked it when women cried. He wanted to change the subject, but at the same time, he knew that talking about it would give her some closure. "It was someone you were involved with?"
Her eyes grew wide. She was genuinely shocked. "Heavens no!" she exclaimed. Memories flooded into her mind. The idea of having a lover back when Ren was still in her life was absurd. Even laughable. It began to bring tears to her eyes. She laughed lightly, brushing her tears away with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry," she said shakily. "I'm not very used to telling people-"
"Then you needn't tell me if you do not wish to; that you do not," he said firmly.
Her eyes fell on his shimmery iris, but unlike before, she felt a sense of security. She felt herself begin to trust Kenshin a little more than she did before. She shook her head, taking a deep breath. She attempted to calm her racing heart before she spoke. "This person," she started. She coughed lightly, trying to get her voice above a whisper. She shut her eyes for a moment before continuing. "This person…I lost them. Back during the Tokugawa period."
Upon hearing the name of the period, his eyes widened. His blood ran cold and his spine tingled. He often had nightmares about his past as a manslayer. The thought of his purposes during the said period horrified him.
'Ah? The Tokugawa period?'
He could now hear the Battousai in the back of his mind. It was taunting him. Ridiculing him. He attempted to push it out of his mind, doing his best to look attentive.
He nodded slightly, telling her to go on. She looked down at the table, her vision becoming blurry. "This person," she said again, this time with tears flowing freely down her cheeks. She didn't make an attempt to wipe them away like she did earlier. She bit her lip, debating whether she could go on.
He saw her tears and knew she wasn't ready to talk about her inner turmoil. He rose slowly to sit beside her. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, making her cry harder. He turned her toward him, gently wiping her tears away with his thumb. He gave her a small smile. "You needn't tell me if you do not wish to," he repeated.
She shook her head, feeling light-headed from crying. She wanted to continue. She wanted let out her pent-up feelings. She wanted someone to talk to. "It was my older brother, Ren," she whispered.
'Oh? Her older brother? And she lost him during the Tokugawa period? What a coincidence. The blade at your waist might have tasted his blood.'
The Battousai had come back and had picked up where it left off, making spine-chilling comments about the situation Kenshin was in. Kenshin mentally panicked, not wanting Yoko to hear what was going on in his mind. He clamped his mouth shut, trying to keep himself and the Battousai under control.
"It's not a definite loss," continued Yoko. "But his body…i-it was never recovered. No one knows what happened to him."
Kenshin stopped her here. He looked her in the eyes, effectively silencing her. "Miss Yoko, that is enough. Too much at one time is not good. I am glad that you are choosing to tell someone about it; that I am. But I do not wish for you to go mad nor do I wish for you to let this consume your life."
She hastily wiped her tears, feeling ashamed that she was once again, crying and losing herself in the past. She rose quickly, grabbing her notepad out of her apron. She wiped her eyes with her forearm under his gaze. She faked a smile, breathing in and out. "I should be getting back to work!" she said in what she hoped was a cheery voice.
He looked at her, his face unreadable. "Focus on your work today. I shall be back tomorrow, I shall."
Before she could say anything, he made sure he had his sword with him and swiftly walked out. She stared in the direction he had walked away until she realised the waitress that had covered for her was standing beside her.
"Yoko, that man...he comes here often, no?" she asked. "He seems…different."
She continued to stare at the entrance, as if she was expecting him to walk in again. "H-he's just…not sure what he will do about his own predicament," she finished, remembering how she had advised him the day before. "I would have asked if he decided to stay if he did not make sure to tell me himself. That is good. He is going to face and hopefully solve his predicament. Unlike I…I can never resolve mine."
The waitress glanced at Yoko, almost worried for her sanity. She tugged on Yoko's sleeve, pulling her toward a table. "Come, Yoko. Kuma-san will have our heads if we fall behind today."
Kenshin was making his way back to the dojo when the Battousai began talking to him again.
'You are going to see her tomorrow? I thought you were leaving and resuming your wandering.'
Kenshin took note of how the Battousai sounded genuinely surprised. Kenshin briskly walked ahead. "Talking to Miss Yoko…it made me realise that life is too precious. Miss Yoko is living without her older brother, whom she loved very much. I do not wish to part with my friends and never see them again because of this incident. I have already left Tomoe forever. I do not wish to lose the only family I have left."
He didn't know whether he was making the right decision by staying in Tokyo. But he meant what he had said about not wanting to part with his friends. He did not want to feel the pain that he had lost when he had lost Tomoe.
The Battousai heard the name of his love roll off of Kenshin's lips and detested it. It made him grow even more furious with him. The Battousai decided to toss names around as well. Just to ensure that Kenshin would not casually toss Tomoe's name around.
'You are going to see Kurosawa-san again,' said the Battousai gleefully. 'And I will be there to witness your demise.'
"There will not be any demise. I intend to keep a level head; that I do."
Kenshin didn't feel as confident as his words made him seem. To be honest, he didn't know if he could control himself the next time he saw the man who had replaced him in Kaoru's heart. He shook his head, focusing on the path ahead. He would deal with things little by little, just as he had told Yoko to. He would attempt to get his life back in order and become re-accustomed to being at the dojo before facing Arata.
The walk back to the dojo was a lot less relaxing than the walk from the dojo. By the time he had made it back, he was already irritated with the Battousai's occasional snide comments about every single trouble in his life. He was ready to collapse into his futon and escape to perhaps his only haven-sleep.
He stumbled through the entrance of the dojo, slowly making his way toward his room at the end of the hall when two voices echoed throughout the dojo. A man's voice and a woman's voice. His blood ran cold and a chill went down his spine. His eyes widened and he was sure he knew who the voices belonged to. He peered around the door frame and saw the shadow of Kaoru and Arata's figures slowly drawing closer to each other.
Before he witnessed anything happening and ignoring the Battousai completely, he ran as fast as he could to his room and crashed into his futon. He yanked the blankets over his head. He never thought that he would regret the moment a new image replaced the image of his shimmery iris.
I have already started working on chapter eight so I hope that will be finished and be up soon! Unless school becomes a bitch again, which it probably might. *sigh* Read and review! Constructive criticism is always welcome. Hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving and Black Friday!
