Chapter Ten
Opening Doors
Kaoru's POV
Kaoru had just settled a rather disgruntledly Sanosuke into his cot, and was currently catching up on some of her patient's charts when she heard it. A calm, collected, sleek baritone ringing loudly through an unusually quiet room. "Never did talk much did you?" Kaoru's clinic was hardly ever this silent, which was the first indicator to the young doctor. Allowing the chart in her hands to slip back onto the cot, Kaoru curiously turned to see what had caused such silence. Immediately she knew. A man, of whom she had never seen before, was walking towards the Battousai. No one has ever approached the Battousai in such a casual way, and Kaoru could certainly understand why everyone had frozen. This estranged man had a death wish. From where she stood the doctor made the man out to be a bit taller than the Battousai, with tidy black hair, and a devilishly handsome face. He walked gracefully, proudly as he approached the slayer with a more than smug look. Not a single soul in the room didn't fear for his safety. Then this strange, prideful man did the unthinkable.
With a twisted, almost crazed look on his face the man removed the cigarette from between his lips, and blew a cloud of smoke straight into the Battousai's face "Your move manslayer." The dead man taunted in a barely audible voice. The tension that filled the room was unmeasurable, and so thick one could cut through it with a knife. Every hair on the back of her neck stood to attention, and the warm blood in her veins turned icy cold. This man had just dug his own grave. Kaoru couldn't tell the exact moment Battousai had moved, but she had heard the sickening crack of the man's skull hitting the wall, and she could clearly see the Battousai's blade slicing into the his scrawny neck. The Battousai's reputation was legendary in this war, there wasn't a single person—solider nor commoner—who wasn't aware of how dangerous the slayer was. Yet, no matter how ignorant this man was, he didn't deserve to die for it. Furthermore, if Kaoru allowed the Battousai to kill this man in her clinic, it would go against everything the young doctor stood for. She saved lives, she didn't end them. Her mind was made up: she had to put a stop to this.
Her heart thundered against her ribs as she took her first step forward. Her legs felt heavy, and limp yet she pressed on. Now was not the time for her to be afraid. A man's life is on the line, she had to be brave. So step by miserable step Kaoru inched closer to the Battousai and his kill. Her throat constricted her ability to breathe, and every nerve in her body was telling her to run, but the doctor refused to do so. Finally when she stood less than a foot away Kaoru swallowed her fear and tried for the slayer's attention "Battousai!" She called softly her fear drowning out the volume of her attempt. The Battousai didn't make a response. Instead the feral, raw, primal look on his face deepened. It was the distinct look of a predator about to make his kill. His blade slid a little farther into the man's neck drawing deep red blood. Kaoru felt her stomach lurch violently as a dark, demonic smile stretched across his lips. Real, uncensored fear gripped Kaoru as she realized that in this moment there was no humanity left in the Battousai. It horrified her as she became acquainted with the true demon that was the manslayer.
Glancing from the Battousai to the man against the wall Kaoru felt sick. He was also smiling between his struggling, straining attempts for air. This strange bloodlust the two shared did not sit well with Kaoru at all. "We can go to hell together Battousai." The man gasped as the end of his life drew nearer.
It was in that moment that Kaoru found her chance. For whatever reason the mood had changed. That angry, animalistic look on the Battousai's face had faded into something calmer, calculated. On a level the doctor didn't dare understand he had regained some sort of control. This inner demon of his had fell back just enough for an opening "I am not afraid of death Saito." Battousai hissed "Are you?"
A chill ran down her spine, rooting her to where she stood. A man whom did not fear death was a dangerous man, yet no matter how aware of this she was Kaoru could not let her chance slip by. Defying all odds against her, Kaoru launched into action. Quickly closing the space between her and the two men she placed a trembling hand on the Battousai's outstretched arm. Time stood still. All attention turned to her and her mindless attempt. She just hoped that she had made the right move.
Kaoru regarded him with frightened sapphire eyes and a humble plead "Please stop." She murmured.
His entire demeanor shifted.
The fire that had consumed him was extinguished, and Kaoru felt relieved to see the Battousai take back control. In one fluid motion he had sheathed his katana, and disappeared into the garden.
The man, which Kaoru could now identify as Saito, slid down the wall sputtering and gasping for air. A few more seconds of stunned tension stood in the room as the reality of what just occurred sunk in. Then, once the initial shock had melted away, the on-lookers burst back to life. Ayame rushed to the assaulted man's side with a hand of gauze and a clean rag, while Sano made his way toward Kaoru "Doc?" He muttered as he rested a heavy palm on her shoulder. Up until that point Kaoru had remained staring at the door Battousai had vanished through. She glanced up at her concerned friend and gave him a weak smile. It was the best she could do in letting him know she was okay. However, while she may have been fine, what about the Battousai? When he had took off Kaoru could have sworn she had seen blood. Had he been injured as well? Glancing down to the floor Kaoru noticed a few drops of red on the floor leading to the shoji screen. So he is hurt. Snatching a few supplies and a lantern Kaoru headed out into the garden without a second thought.
Once sliding the screen closed Kaoru was met with cold, damp air. The heavy rain had apparently come to a hault in the meanwhile, and the dark clouds that had haunted them for so long had dispersed. A bright, full moon now dominated the sky, softly illuminating the garden path below it. Kaoru, having forgotten her shoes inside, stepped out into the rejuvenated land disregarding how the mud felt between her toes. She had a job to do. Quietly she walked along the small, dirt path keeping a mindful eye out for the Battousai. Since his job required an uncanny ability to hide in the shadows Kaoru knew it may not be easy to find him. So she set her attention both on the path and the shadows around it, using her lantern to light up what she couldn't see. Finally she came across a familiar silhouette standing in front of the Koi Pond. She approached him carefully, making some noise along the way so that he would be aware of her presence. After all, sneaking up on an assassin was not the best idea.
After she had gotten close enough to him for a clear view of his side Kaoru realized that Saito had wounded the Battousai worse. Blood soaked his dark blue gi and the torn fringes around the blade's entry point. From where Kaoru stood she knew that the injury was deep, and would undoubtedly require stitches. Finally after a long stretch of silence Kaoru was the first to speak "You are injured." She stated hoping to at last get his attention. It was a fruitless attempt. The Battousai had turned her a deaf ear, and instead remained concentrated on the still pond below him. Kaoru, who felt a little braver than she should, decided to press on "Can I take a look?" She asked slowly entering his personal space at the rate of a snail. Kaoru didn't want to move too fast in fear that she might test his rather unstable mood. However, as she knelt down beside him the Battousai still hadn't moved a muscle. Taking this as a good sign Kaoru became a little bolder. Angling her lantern just right, allowing for the most light possible, she carefully pushed back the frayed edges of fabric, and dabbed the wound with a fresh cloth. Kaoru watched as his spine stiffened and then relaxed while she prodded around the entry. He would never admit that it hurt. Once her examination was done, she tried again to gain his attention "You need stitches." Kaoru mumbled as her eyes wondered to his expressionless face.
He didn't say one word, wouldn't even glance in her direction. Kaoru sighed. She couldn't force someone to receive medical help "Just keep your wound clean, and some gauze over it then." The doctor stated dejectedly. Standing up Kaoru straightened her kimono, and was about to leave when suddenly progress was made. Slowly, carefully the Battousai shrugged out of his gi, and allowed it to hang loosely around his waist. Kaoru froze partly in shock, and partly in awe. As a doctor a man's bare chest was hardly an oddity. She had seen plenty of them, yet this time it was different. The way that the moonlit reflected off of his smooth pale skin, shadowing the contours of his muscles, and showing off his years of hard labor in a way that almost seemed intimate—well, that was defiantly different from the others. In the darkness Kaoru felt a warm, pink blush dust across her cheeks. She hoped that the Battousai wouldn't notice as she knelt back down beside him. She pulled a needle and thread from a hidden sleeve pocket in her kimono, and began working. "This will probably hurt." She warned as the needle was threaded through the torn corner of his wound.
At this point most men would have at least flinched, but not the Battousai. He remained unmoving. It was as if Kaoru was attending to a statue. Weaving the needle in and out, pulling together the split skin the doctor watched in amazement as he remained unchanging. Finally she pulled the needle one last time, stitching the wound up, and finishing with a neat little knot. Carefully she dabbed around her fine work, soaking up the excess blood "I will need to bandage this." Kaoru told him as she unraveled some of her gauze. Gently she started with his wound, and reached the roll around his lean torso and back to the beginning. It was strictly a medical procedure, yet Kaoru couldn't help the darker blush that came from having her arms around his waist. As she wrapped the gauze securely around him Kaoru became hypersensitive of how cool and soft his skin was underneath her fingertips. It was a very strange sensation for her. It seemed as though every time their skin would brush together it would ignite sparks. Finally Kaoru came to the end of the gauze, and she ever so tenderly tied it off. In a way having finished doctoring made her feel a little sad, and for a second she wished that she could have prolonged this quiet moment.
As Kaoru once again stood to her feet, she realized that this was probably a rare occasion for the Battousai. Picking up her lantern it occurred to her that he had never been doctored properly. This conclusion came from the exposure of her lantern. Unconsciously Kaoru had exposed an abundance of jagged scars in the flame's flickering light. Most of them were old and faded, a bare few were newer and still an angry pink. If a doctor had ever tended to those wounds the scars would have been straighter, and less noticeable "You have never let a doctor work on you." Kaoru stated finally getting his attention. The Battousai lifted his head, his eyes an unreadable shade of deep gold.
A long, stressed period of silence filled the small space between them as he simply stared at her, unmoving and without a single word. Finally, after Kaoru had averted her eyes to the soft dirt beneath her feet, the silence was broken "You are right." The response came as a low, defeated whisper. Kaoru turned her gaze to his chest where scar after rugged scar marred his otherwise flawless pale skin. Where had they all come from? Where they battle wounds? Surely not all of them. Kaoru thought about how fast the Battousai had moved back in the clinic, and only fell at a loss to how he could have that many scars. On a whim—a bold, brash whim—Kaoru took a step forward. As to what she intended to do the doctor could not say, but whatever her plan had been it was long gone. The mud around the Koi Pond happened to be slick, and she had placed her bare foot in just the right spot. Her small body went tumbling onward right into the solid figure of the Battousai. Almost naturally his arms wrapped around her waist, steading the clumsy doctor against his bare chest without much effort at all. Kaoru, currently burning with embarrassment, momentarily remembered a similar time they had been like this next to the koi pond. "Miss Kamiya?" Kaoru glanced up at him, and her mouth dropped open. His eyes were no longer a hard ember, but instead a soft lavender. How was that even possible?
Battousai's POV
He was being reckless. Kenshin had known this the moment he saw the doctor walk into the garden. The shadows was a well-known place for an assassin, yet he didn't want to hide from her. If Kenshin had wanted to he could have stayed out of sight. Kaoru wouldn't have found him at all, but he was being selfish and careless. He wasn't any good for her. He needed to stay away from her. Wasn't that his resolve? Kenshin knew this. He knew that the best thing he could do for the girl was to stay away. He knew that if she was to ever get too close he would taint her. Yet, despite all the risks, deep down he still wanted her to find him, he wanted to see her again, and more than anything Kenshin wanted to prove to her that he wasn't the monster she had seen tonight. He wanted to show her that she was safe with him. So there he stood at the edge of the koi pond, thinking of the night he had caught her here, and remembering just how fast his heart had beat.
He knew she would find him there. However upon seeing her, that awful, horrified look on her face flooded his mind. All of those prior wants were diminished. Kenshin was ashamed of the fact that he had frighten Kaoru, and he simply couldn't look at her. Not even when she was doctoring him.
Then she tripped. Naturally he had caught her; wrapped his arms around her tiny, delicate waist, supporting her weight against his bare chest. She was warm, fragile, and soft against him "Miss Kamiya?" He asked expecting her to look up at him with a look of fear, expecting the shock to wear off and for her to flinch away from him. She didn't. Instead when her curious sapphire eyes met with his there was nothing but wonder there, mixed with just a hint of embarrassment. Her pale pink lips parted just slightly as she gazed up at him, it was too much. It was thoughtless. It was an impulse. But it couldn't be stopped. He shouldn't subject her to the darkness that shrouds his life, he should have released her and just walked away, but he couldn't. There beside the koi pond with the moonlight illuminating her flawless skin and flushed cheeks Kenshin lost his resolve.
Gently, ever so gently his calloused fingers found the edge of her jaw, they traveled down to underneath her chin where they curled and rested. Satin, her skin was as soft as satin. Testing his luck, Kenshin skimmed the pad of his thumb along her full bottom lip as he waited for her to push him away. If she didn't want this, if he was going too far Kaoru would only have to tell him; but the look in her eyes before she closed them said it all. Maybe it was just for tonight, maybe in the morning she would regret this, but right now in this single moment Kaoru wanted exactly what he did. Slowly Kenshin tilted her chin up, and moved his head lower. He had been with a few other woman before, mainly geishas Hiko had hired, but Kenshin was aware of the fact that Kaoru was different. She was the epitome of innocence. Until now, right this moment, she had probably never been kissed by a man. Kenshin wanted to treat her with the respect she deserved.
So he was careful with her.
Again he traced the pad of this thumb over her bottom lip, letting her know what was about to happen. In response a secretive smile tilted the corners of her mouth, making him swell with pride. Gingerly, delicately he drew her nearer. At first he simply brushed his lips against hers, preparing her with the sensation. Once, twice he placed tender, sensual kisses against her deliciously silky lips. Then on the third time it was Kaoru who sought him. She was timid and shy about it, but that sweet virtuous nature of hers was all too intoxicating for him. He wanted, needed more, but she was trusting him and he wouldn't dare ruin that. Not for his own selfish reasons. So instead Kenshin pulled back just far enough to prod her emotional state. He wanted to know that she was okay, that he hadn't gone to far. Regarding her attentively Kenshin was surprised to see that Kaoru wasn't afraid, or disgusted with what just occurred, but instead she seemed happy and satisfied. He had done that, put that look on her face. God he hoped that she wouldn't regret tonight.
Deciding that they had went far enough with this little exploration, Kenshin tucked her head underneath his chin and simply held her.
In was in that quiet moment spent together that Kenshin knew things were going to change. The two of them had opened a door that neither would ever be able to close again. Kenshin now realized that all those weeks of fighting this attraction, of fighting her... they had been futile. Every bit of his self-discipline, of his resolve had been demolished with a single kiss. It was over. They could never go back now.
Honestly, he didn't want them too.
A/N: Yes I know, they have finally kissed! This will lead to a new relationship for Kenshin and Kaoru, and possibly new enemies!? I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, thank you for reading, and as always please leave any comments below. :)