Sorry, this chapters not as good or as long as I would like it. But the next one is way better, I promise.
Chapter 12: Making Amends
The remainder of the Kenshingumi remained as dumbfounded as they had been when Hiko had carried Kaoru out of the dojo. Megumi and Tae had managed to prepare a decent meal for everyone, and now they were sitting in the dojo's courtyard, waiting for something. No one was able to say anything, but each one of them had a million questions to ask.
When Kaoru suddenly bolted through the dojo's gate, she scared everyone. Misao, Megumi, and Tae all rose to see her, but from the agitated manor in which she slammed the shoji to her room, they sat back down.
Next came Kenshin, walking in a daze through the gate that Kaoru had left open. "Get out," he said sternly. "Those of you that are staying here go to bed." When no one made a move to leave, he hollered at them, "WHAT PART OF 'GET OUT' DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?"
As they scrambled to please him, Aoshi reached a hand out to the former manslayer's shoulder. Kenshin sensed Aoshi's motion and slapped his hand away so hard that the Okashira lost his balance. As starred disbelievingly up at Kenshin and whispered, "Himura..."
Hiko and Saito entered the dojo just as the others were leaving. They were bombarded with questions the moment that the others realized who they were. Giving up on telling them to quiet down, Saito blew his whistle again. It was only then that they heard the disturbance coming from the back of the dojo.
"I don't want to hear any more excuses, Kenshin! I'm tired of waiting for you!" Kaoru took the opportunity to through a pot at Kenshin. She had gone to the kitchen to make herself a cup of strong tea and he had followed her.
"Kaoru, would you just listen to me? I'm trying to apologize and you won't let me!"
"WHY SHOULD I? YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO LEAVE AGAIN?...KNOW WHAT? GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! THE WEDDING IS OFF! GET OUT AND LEAVE ME ALONE...FOREVER!"
Kenshin stood refusing to believe her, tears welling up in his eyes, "Kaoru," he sobbed. "Kaoru, don't do this. I-I know what I did was wrong, but everything's fine now. I-I don't have anymore doubts. Aishiteru, Kaoru, you know that! You,"
"IF YOU LOVE ME THEN WHY DID YOU TRY TO LEAVE ME?"
"I was confused. Master had told me something and it unhinged me...but you brought me back. It was your face and your words that made me follow you back here, and now I never want to leave. Please believe me, koishii. I promise that I'll make it up to you."
Kaoru took the chance to through her tea cup at him, which he dodged and it shattered against the far wall. That only made Kaoru angrier because it was now Kenshin's fault that it had broken. She growled at him. "I HATE YOU HIMURA KENSHIN! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" she screamed while stamping her foot on the ground furiously. Her hands her fisted, her eyes were tightly shut, and she was shaking her head.
Kenshin couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make matters worse, so he did the only thing that made sense to him. He used his god-like speed to embrace his fiancé in an embrace before she knew what he was doing. When she had started to voice her objections, he captured her lips with his own. He forced her to accept the kiss until she was like putty in his arms. Kaoru began crying loudly on his shoulder when he broke the kiss and he held her close. "She's exhausted. I had best get her to bed right away. I can't imagine how horrible this day has been for her..." With these thoughts he scooped his love into arms and carried her to her room.
Kaoru couldn't stop crying, even after Kenshin had changed her into her sleeping yukata and had her tucked warmly under the quilt. He lay with her in the darkness, rubbing her arms and her back, trying his best to comfort her. She eventually cried herself to sleep in his arms with her head resting on his chest.
When Kenshin was certain that she wouldn't wake, he stole quietly to his room and changed clothes. He could hear that the others where still taking in the courtyard, and hurried back to Kaoru's room. "Aoshi can lock up; Kaoru needs me right now. I can't leave her alone for the night. I don't care if we do have a dojo full of guests, we're getting married in five days; they won't say anything even if they notice." He pulled Kaoru close to him underneath the quilt and placed a kiss on her forehead before sleep overtook him as well.
Kaoru awoke the next morning in a daze. "Something feels different about today." She hadn't opened her eyes yet, and tried to stretch but found that something was restraining her. "Why can't I move?" She opened one weary eye and saw Kenshin's chest an inch from her face. His chin was resting on the top of her head, on arm was underneath her head, the other holding her tightly by the waist. His hair had come undone and it was spread across his shoulder, just within reach of her fingertips.
She grabbed the ends and began playing with them, waiting for him to wake up. When his breathing stayed steady and deep, she began to gently pull and twist the strands. Kenshin groaned and pulled her closer to him. When Kaoru giggled against his chest he finally stirred. He looked down at her questioningly. "It's too early," he moaned.
"Kenshin, it's rather late. I imagine that everyone else has been up for sometime now." Kenshin's only response was to moan again and pull her closer to him. Kaoru began trailing her index finger lightly across what little of his chest was exposed. They remained this way for a few minutes, Kenshin nearly falling asleep again, when Kaoru spoke. "Um, Kenshin?"
"Hmm?"
"Not that I mind or anything, but would you tell me how we ended up like this? The last thing I remember was yelling at you in the kitchen and bawling my eyes out."
"You cried yourself to sleep, koishii. I couldn't stomach leaving you alone, not when you needed me so much. So, I changed and came back in here to make sure that I would be here if you needed me during the night." He paused to kiss her on the forehead, then tilted her chin up so that he could look into her eyes. "I am truly, truly sorry for what happened last night. I've been really nervous about all this, and after what Master told me, I guess I just snapped. Please forgive me, koishii. I still want to marry you, but only if you'll have me."
Kaoru remained silent, trying to find something funny to say so that he would laugh. Finally she answered him with: "I know you're sorry, Kenshin; now apologize." It achieved the desired effect as Kenshin let out a great laugh and pulled her up to him so that he could kiss her.
When he released her Kaoru smiled sweetly up at him. A little too sweetly, he thought. "Koishii," he said warily, "what do you want?"
"Hmph," Kaoru pouted.
"Now, now, whenever you smile at me like that you usually want something." Kaoru kept the pout on her face, sticking her bottom lip out as much as she could. "Come on, Kaoru, please?"
Kaoru couldn't help but smile and answer, "I don't want to get up. I want to stay here until it's time for the wedding."
"So do I, koishii, so do I."
The rest of the day progressed as normal as possible. The women rushed around with last minute wedding plans, the men sat around talking and taunting each other. Every so often one of the men would comment on something that the women were doing (both wrong and right) and it would set them all off. The only of them that actually did anything was, of course, poor Kenshin. Kaoru waited until Kenshin had put the laundry up to dry before shooing them all out of the dojo. She turned a deaf ear to their complaints and locked them out.
The two days after that Kaoru became more and more nervous. She checked and rechecked details, arrangements, and plans. She had to be asked questions several consecutive times so that her mind could comprehend them. She rushed around like a madwoman until Kenshin finally threatened to tie her up if she didn't rest. She had unwillingly agreed, but was back at work as soon as she was out of sight. When he returned to discover that she had resumed her duties he snuck up behind her and held her wrists tightly behind her back before forcibly leading her out of the dojo.
"Kenshin," Kaoru whined once they were out of the dojo. "Let me go. I promise I'll be good this time."
"I don't think so." But he did release her wrists and put a protective arm around her shoulders as they walked down a path that led outside of Tokyo.
Kaoru and Kenshin spent a romantic afternoon walking through the woods outside the city. Kaoru picked lots of flowers, some of which ended up in Kenshin's hair; and Kenshin let her wander as far as he dared go.
When darkness began to fall upon them, Kenshin made Kaoru return to the dojo. Just as they neared the edge of the trees fireflies surrounded the two lovers and they shared a kiss amidst the insects that had truly sparked their relationship into existence.
Kenshin and Kaoru ate dinner alone from everyone else. They hadn't spent that much time together in lou of the wedding and both relished the time that they had that night. The others had all gone to bed relatively early and the two lover were able to enjoy another night in each others arms.
After Kenshin had blown out the candle in Kaoru's room, he pulled her up against him for a long and passionate kiss. He molded his mouth to hers, and urged her to open for it him. When she complied he quickly rolled her onto her back and thrust his tongue into her mouth. As he tasted her Kaoru began to use her tongue against his. In response he vigorously grabbed her right breast through her thin yukata. Kaoru then locked both her hands in his hair and moaned into his mouth.
"Alright, pull it together. You need to stop. Remember the wedding his the day after tomorrow, you can wait that long," Kenshin thought as his arousal grew. "Come on, oh who am I kidding, I don't want to stop. I have to put I just can't do it. I just..." Kenshin lost all self-control from that one kiss. It was only when he heard a shoji down the hall open and footsteps coming towards them that he was able to comply with his thoughts. He silently got behind Kaoru on the futon and wrapped his arms around her as the footsteps passed them. Before the sound could come their way on its return trip, the two lovers had already fallen asleep.
Once again, sorry. The next chapter will get better, please forgive me. I needed this one for the transition. Please review.
