Summary : A no name heresy questioned his very own existence until Kaoru, the Spiritual Deity, searching for love, named him Kenshin. She gave him a reason to live and he taught her the meaning of one true love. Sadly, love was not without sacrifice. Especially not when it entangled Enishi, Warrior God…
Disclaimer: Me, no own any of the Rurouni Kenshin's character, just the plot of this particular story. I need to do this to improve my grammar.
Warning: Not 'beta'. Might be full of grammatical mistake which I am prone to…
It all began…
The Full Moon claimed the hours of darkness, illuminating the topography of the earth for night travelers. Nocturnal wind was blowing cold causing the meadow to sway and dance towards its course. A particular patch, in the middle of the field, did not move in synchronize with the rest. What looked like a silhouette of a man lying on his back with his entire weight resting on the unmoving spot.
The man lazed with his limbs all stretched out, looking intently into the clear blueish grey sky. He allowed the chill to settle comfortably on the warmth of his body which was covered only by a thin layer of clothing. He did not shiver as the caress of the icy wind was nothing compared to his emptiness and coldness of his heart.
He silently questioned the purposes of his existence in this world. He doubted protecting the sword that was resting peacefully in the very same cave that he had called his home, was the reason for his need of air. The sword, he somehow knew, had form a shield around the cave forbidding entrance to any living object except him. It was more likely the sword existed to protect him instead. He had no friends or family to belong to, only a long shining weapon as his day and night companion, but that did not justify his needs for existence.
He had tried to set journey to explore lands beyond his sight but somehow found himself incapable of do so. Something invisibly was chaining, imprisoning him to the cave, unable him to run very far. Once he heard distantly from the passing travelers that there was a neighbouring village across the field. He ventured to the village to search for his answer, to fill his emptiness but he could not connect at all with the hustle and bustle of the village before him. He felt nothing. He went back to his cave, where at least the lingering silence was welcoming. The cave gave him a sense of security, when no where else could.
Every breath that he took, it was meaningless, he felt. He had nothing to look forward to, nothing to do. He wasted his time observing every sunrise and sunset, waiting for time to pass, waiting for something to come to him. 'Waiting?' He asked himself when the thought abruptly attacked his mind. Waiting for what exactly, he did not know. Perhaps waiting for the moment when he ceased to breathe, ending his vapid life.
He sighed heavily before he stood up, dusting his rear. His long flaming red hair lit by the brightness of the moon was blown to his side along the direction of the gushing wind. Contrast to his cold hollow heart, his fiery mane emanated strong willed and spirit. He looked up to the moon, wandering not of its beauty but of its existence. 'The moon emits enough lighting for me to walk back to the cave… It serves its purposes well. But purpose do I walk back to the cave where there is nothing for me there?' He sniggered and walked back to the cave nevertheless. 'Where would I go if not back to the cave? No where…' He answered miserably.
"MEGUMI!" Someone was shouting from outside of Megumi's laboratory.
"Not again?" Megumi ceased writing her report and sighed softly before she reluctantly stood up from her chair. She dragged her feet to the window and looked down.
"Hi! Wanna come out and play, Megumi?" Kaoru waved her hand vigorously and grinned at the Megumi who couldn't help rolling her eyes and sighed at the sight of Kaoru.
"No, Kaoru. I don't want to come out and play. I have a report to write." Megumi answered with a straight face before she shut her window and went back to her desk. She was annoyed.
Before Megumi could complete a sentence, Kaoru marched into her laboratory. "That's what you said yesterday and the day before!" Kaoru whined and pouted.
Megumi ignored her, pretending that Kaoru was not standing akimbo in front of her.
"Megumi, you can't ignore me forever, you know." Kaoru said after a while.
"Kaoru, don't you have someone else that you could bug? Go disturb your Enishi. I am sure he is than more willing to entertain you." Megumi bit back and continued her work. "Unlike you, Spiritual Deity, I have practical work to do and document down on my finding." She added while writing on the parchment.
There was an unusual moment of silence which Megumi was not expecting. She was fairly sure that Kaoru was going to argue back. Curiously, Megumi looked up and found Kaoru standing not in front of her but by the window, looking outside into the far distance.
Standing before Megumi was not the childish like Kaoru who had just shouted for Megumi to come out and play but a graceful grown up with her waist length hair tied in a high pony tail. It was a shame that Kaoru always had her hair up, Megumi reckoned. Kaoru's beautiful hair was silky and shiny. On its own, it radiated a powerful willed of spirit. If she was to let her down, it would definitely be her crown of beauty, if not her good looks. With her hair up, Kaoru was of a simple beauty enhanced by her large sapphire-gem-like eyes glitter as she mused to herself. Kaoru looked demure, yet, pure with a pinch of elegance in her white robe that spilled its fabric loosely on the floor around her feet.
"Kaoru?" Megumi was getting worried. "Is something wrong?" She walked to stand beside Kaoru. She looked outside the window, searching for whatever that held Kaoru's gaze. However, the scenery, she saw, was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Enishi asked my hand for marriage…" Kaoru trailed off, still looking toward the far east.
"That's wonderful. Congratulation." Megumi was overwhelmed by the news. She smiled cheerfully to Kaoru but her smile faded when she noticed Kaoru wasn't too happy with the news. "Kaoru?" Her concern for her best friend, who tend to annoy her most of the time, rose another level higher. "Why are you not excited by the marriage proposal?"
Kaoru was silent for a while before she turned to Megumi with a sad smile carving her lips. "Should I be?" She questioned before she sighed and turned to continued staring outside the window towards the same direction that she was looking before.
Megumi was perplexed at Kaoru's question but said nothing.
"I have been observing the human cultivation for some time now. I am pretty mystified over their way of living. But what interest me most is what they call love – love between a man and woman. Their gesture of love, be it physical or emotionally, is really something worth exploring, interesting." Kaoru said after a short while.
Megumi remained silent as she did not know where this conversation was leading.
"I love all things but I don't think I will ever get devastated or seemingly lost when something that I love, is lost. When a man and woman are in love, one will feel terrible lost losing the others. It will come to a point whereby they have no desire to live their very precious limited life. They sacrifice what was important to their individual needs just to please the others. Weird, isn't it? I don't understand it but I find really intriguing."
"Only the homosapien species had this capability of this 'love' or should I say- weakness…" Megumi finally commented. "So, what does this 'love' issue have to do with your marriage to Enishi?" Megumi still could not see the direction of the conversation.
Kaoru turned to Megumi with a smile. "You might think that it is stupid but I, even though I don't understand, believed that I should be in love to be married of. I want to be in love. Like human does."
"Kaoru, are you not in love with Enishi? You have been idolizing him since you ere young. And please be reminded that we are not human. We are deities. So why do you want to experience the complexity of human's emotion and to even compare your feeling to a mere human? Our kind is more advance in our intelligence and emotion quotient. We can't possibly be compared to the human race. For God sake, we are their guardian." Megumi reminded Kaoru. Megumi honestly do not understand why would Kaoru want to be in touch with the human emotion. "To indulge in emotions, is inviting miserable."
"I idolized Enishi out of respect." Kaoru could only smile and said nothing more. She knew that Megumi would not understand. It is best that she kept her feeling to herself. She continued to look outside. She somehow felt that something was calling for her from the east which was why she kept looking to that direction. 'It must be my imagination. I am getting restless' She sighed.
Megumi looked at Kaoru with concerned. Whatever happened to the cheerful face that she just saw a while ago? Two knocks on the door, snapping her out of her musing.
"Come in." Megumi approved.
"Good morning, ladies." Enishi came into the room.
"Enishi! What are you doing here?" Kaoru immediately turned around and asked in surprised when she heard his voice.
"I am here to collect my young apprentice who is late for her practice. Misao told me that you would be here." Enishi explained his presence.
'That little tweet!' Kaoru had deliberately came to see Megumi when she knew she was due for her sword practice. She was trying to avoid meeting Enishi, for some reason.
"How nice and thoughtful of you to come and collect this little girl here. You could have just gotten someone to fetch for her instead. Anyhow, I am honored that Warrior God himself is at my humble office. May I serve you something to drink?" Megumi was being polite and diplomatic. In actual fact, she didn't like any visitor to her laboratory cum office, even if it was the Emperor God himself.
"It is alright, Megumi. We will be leaving now. I am already late for practice." Kaoru gracefully walked over to Enishi who gave her a big welcoming smile and extended his right hand to her. She put her hand in his.
"Thank you for the offer, Megumi. We shall be running along now and leave you in peace. I must apologize for my fiancée's disruption to your work. I will keep an eye on her in the future." Enishi apologized before he excused on behalf of Kaoru and himself. It was well known that Megumi, the Head of Science Department did not fancy being disturbed while she was at work. She was also very fond of working round the clock. He wondered briefly, why his Kaoru even enjoyed Megumi's company in the first place.
Kaoru stared irritable at Enishi. 'What fiancée! I have not agree to anything yet!' She berated inwardly. Deep down, she knew very well that the marriage was inevitable. It was a matter of time. Spiritual Deity was one with the Warrior God – it had always been. Still, she believed that she was not his possession and there was no need of him treating her like a child.
Kaoru was concentrating hard on her footing while planning on her next attack. Somehow she was distracted by his smile. Something in the way he had smiled made her very uneasy. She charged forward in full force and decided a frontal attack.
He was still smiling at her, his body posture relaxed.
The smile on his face was slowly building the fury in her. She almost hit his shoulder with her bokken when his image blurred and thus, disappeared into thin air. Kaoru jumped slightly when Enishi, out of nowhere, grabbed her hand holding her bokken, by the wrist, twisted and pressed against her back. The counter attack by Enishi forced Kaoru to kneel down on one of her knee. She struggled to free herself but Enishi hold on her was firm.
Enishi bent down and whispered to her ears, "You are not concentrating. Your moves were easily read. You were distracted, my young apprentice. What are you thinking of, my beloved?"
The endearment caused Kaoru to freeze on her spot. Her mind went blank.
Enishi carefully disengaged his hold on Kaoru and helped her stood by her arms. Her back was facing him. He stood close to her from behind until his chest hit her back. "You are avoiding me." It was a statement.
Kaoru did not answer nor move an inch. Cold sweat was breaking through her pores.
He ran his hand through her pony tail and pulled the band that was holding her hair together. As her hair fell gracefully against her back, fragrant wafted into his senses. He hugged her by the waist from behind and dipped his nose to her neck.
Kaoru was startled. "Enishi, let go! I am all sweaty and sticky." She wriggled in his embrace.
"You're very sweet." Enishi commented truthfully as he took in her scent.
"What!" Kaoru couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"You smell really good despite your sweat. It is driving me crazy." His tone went really soft with an edge of aggressiveness.
"Enishi…" Kaoru tried to remove his arm from wrapping her waist.
"You are my future wife. You will marry me and I will make you very happy. There is nothing to be afraid of. Give yourself to me. We are meant to be together. I need you. If you need time to prepare yourself, I'll understand. I will wait for you. Come to me when you are ready. I am all here for you." Enishi wooed her.
Kaoru stopped struggling. She felt a small shiver traveling down her spine as Enishi kissed her neck, tightening his embrace.
Kaoru sighed deeply as she immersed her body into the hot tub. The hot bath was doing good to her aching muscle. She closed her eyes, thinking of what just happened in the training room – what Enishi had just said to her.
"Perhaps this is love. I shouldn't be so stubborn and try looking for something out of my figment of imagination. What I am looking for is right in front of me." She convinced herself. Everyone, except herself, thought that Enishi and herself were a perfect couple. Majority can't be wrong. On the day of her existence, she was already bound to Enishi, Warrior God. She knew but she did not mind at first, as it was by the order of the heaven. She had always been order abiding despite her little mischief.
Enishi had practically watched her bloomed from a little child into a woman that she was now. He had been gentle and caring towards her. He had never been too busy when came to her matters. He was her master, he helped groomed her. He most probably knew her from inside out.
"Why am I still beating my brains for? Enishi loves me and I will marry him. That is the purpose of me – help the Warrior God, be his strength and spirit, to maintain the order on earth." She resolute and smiled a half smile. She continued to enjoy her much relaxing bath. She felt a burden that weighed a tonne had been taken of her chest.
Kaoru dressed in her yukata and stood on the arc bridge, crossing over water lily pond. The moon was round and big. The sky was clear. She missed the full moon the night before. She had always enjoyed looking at the full moon. She didn't know what she was expecting by looking at the moon but somehow, some part of her seemed to believe that the moon held the answer to her questions. She smiled at her own silliness.
"Kaoru." A gentle voice was heard.
Kaoru turned to the voice and saw Enishi walking towards her. She gave a warm smile and turned back to the moon. That was the first genuine smile that he received from her ever since he proposed to her.
Enishi couldn't help but wrapped his long stretching arm across Kaoru's chest. Instead of struggling, Kaoru bend her elbow and hold onto his lower arm, securing his embrace. She relaxed into his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. He was delighted that she was responding positively to him.
She felt at ease and comfortable being in that position. Enishi crooked his head to rest lightly on hers. She could tell that he was smiling. The night was perfectly stilled but the moment was perfectly beautiful. However, she couldn't help thinking that something was amiss. Something was not quite right. She immediately dismissed her negative thoughts and concentrated on moonlighting with Enishi instead. She shut her mind to the nagging sensation that her heart has been signaling.
Enishi kissed her temple.
"Kaoru… Kaoru…." The very faint voice kept on calling for her.
"Who is it?" Kaoru fanatically looked around to identify the source.
"Kaoru…." The voice begged for her to come.
"Where are you? Why can't I see you?" Kaoru was growing anxious. She wanted so much to go to the aid of the voice but all she could see was darkness surrounding her. Everywhere she turned, she was only met with darkness, dead end. She felt that darkness was slowly engulfing the anguish voice. She desperately wanted to find the owner of the voice.
"Kaoru, help me… I need you…. Kaoru…" The voice was in distress.
"I will help you but you need to tell me where you are. I can't see you. Help me find you." She shouted as she turned around feverishly in her spot. The voice was drifting further away from her. "Where are you?" Panic rising in her speech. She would not allow herself to lose trial of the voice.
"Help me… Came to me… Kaoru… Please come to me… Find me, please… Hurry…"
"How will I find you?" Kaoru was still searching the darkness around her.
"East…. Where the sun is born everyday… East, Kaoru… Hurry…Please…"
Kaoru's eyes snapped wide opened. She was very calm. She got up from her bed and walked towards the window. She opened the window and looked toward east direction. "Hang in there. I am coming to save you." She said to the night wind, hoping that it will help transmit her message to the east.
Author's note: I never understand why some writer can come up with so many stories at a time. Now, I think, I do. I have yet to complete my main story but here I am writing another one.
I was a little skeptical about posting this one (even though I had this written for months and sitting in one corner of my hard disc, abandoned) until I read another author's tips about writing. She (I think it is a she) wrote, I quote,
"Sometimes switching to a backup project for a while can really help my head clear… refreshed and ready to rock… keep (me) from burning out on any particular project."
Therefore, I decided to post it, however this chapter/story might turn out to be, while I sit around and 'think' of what to write for the next chapter of my main story. I don't intend to write long chapter for this story like the first one.
So, anybody, please leave me a review and tell me what you think of it. Thank you.