Standard Disclaimers Apply.
To my bestfriend, Uyu-san
Divine Interventions
"Chikuso!" Yahiko muttered.
"Kaoru-san seemed to be taking things worse," Tsubame observed.
"We're not in the Meiji anymore and that stupid Kenshin still left…" Misao noted sadly. Misao sighed as she walked towards the living room.
They sat around the sofa, suddenly losing all their appetite. All, except Yahiko and Sano who went straight to the fridge and devoured all its contents.
Megumi looked at the pair irritatingly. Pulling both of their ears, she reprimanded them, "Selfish men! Can't you think of anything else other than satisfying your stomachs?"
Sano gave her a cocky grin and replied, "Actually, kitsune-chan, my stomach isn't the only thing that needs satisfaction."
"Pervert!!" Megumi fumed, slapping Sano so hard that he flew towards the living room, knocking over the vase and the picture frames on top of the side table.
"Whoah!!!" Sano said, catching the vase. He placed it back safely on top of the able and wiped a sweat, which formed on his eyebrows. He yelled back, "Oi! Kitsune, what was that for? Jou-chan will kill me if I broke her mother's vase!"
Megumi yelled, SD-faced, "Not if I get to you first." Megumi walked towards him, clawing her hands.
"Uh-oh," Sano squeaked.
Their inevitable and somewhat habitual quarrel was cut-off when Aoshi spoke, "Looks like, Kenshin didn't leave without saying goodbye at all." He picked up the letter from the floor and showed it to the others.
Suddenly, the whole gang crowded around him staring intently at the letter. They all gave each other signals but none of them wished to speak first. Finally, Yahiko nudged Misao hard on the ribs.
Misao glared at him then turning to Aoshi, she fluttered her eyes as she said in her sweetest voice, "Aoshi… maybe we should…"
Aoshi shook his head and replied, "This is Kaoru's letter and we have no right to read it."
Megumi rolled her eyes and swiped the letter from his hands, "C'mon Aoshi… we're her friends, she'd let us read it after she does… it's just that we must read it first to see if see would want to read it or if she's better off without it."
Everybody nodded.
Aoshi nodded in resignation and said, "I guess, there's nothing wrong to take a peek."
Misao hugged Aoshi in gratitude as she took the letter from Megumi's hand, reading it aloud.
After reading the letter, everyone returned to their places in the sofa and muttered, "Stupid Kenshin."
~~~~~
Back in Kyoto, Kenshin suffered a severe sneezing fit in the middle of a Ryu Tsui Sen, causing him to stop mid-air, landing on his butt. "Ouch!" Kenshin complained while rubbing his sore rear. Hmmm… I wonder if Kaoru is thinking of me? No… better not think of that.
"Who am I kidding?" Kenshin sighed. "I can't live like this!!!"
~~~~~~
"We have to give this to Kaoru now!" Yahiko exclaimed.
"Brilliant idea, why didn't I think of that," Misao said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "Of course, we are going to give it to Kaoru. What else do you think we must do?"
Yahiko stuck his tongue out at Misao and muttered, "Well, I don't see you moving any faster, weasel girl."
Misao aimed a kick towards Yahiko's direction but was pulled back by Aoshi.
Megumi flipped her hair and retorted, "Kids… stop fooling around… We need to go to Kaoru before she does something stupid."
Sano wrapped his arms from behind and whispered in a husky voice, "I just love it when you're in-charge, kitsune-chan.
Megumi's tried to hide her flushed face by dragging Sano out of the house. Misao and Aoshi followed behind, leaving Tsubame and Yahiko inside.
Tsubame said shyly, "I'm sorry, Yahiko-kun. I can't come with you guys. Tae and I are leaving to Kyoto in two hours. I have to go back to the hotel now."
Yahiko's face fell, "You're leaving already…"
"Yes," she replied sadly. "Anoo… don't worry Yahiko-kun… I'll be back in time for the next school year… I promise," she finished, blushing furiously.
"Okay then, Tsubame-chan, I'll be here waiting," Yahiko leaned over and gave her a short yet lingering kiss. Pulling away, he held her hand and said, "Come on, I'll walk you home. By the way, don't leave yet until I call you."
"Huh?"
"Well, I think we might be able to convince Kaoru to go back to Kyoto with you."
Tsubame nodded in understanding and pecked Yahiko's cheek before they went their way.
"Tsubame-chan," Aoshi called out. "Reserve two tickets to Kyoto. Kaoru would need someone to accompany her there in case of emergency."
Tsubame's eyes widened at the mention of the word emergency, then, she smiled.
~~~~~
Kaoru stood up from her bed and decided to go out of the house. Looking down at the commotion downstairs, she decided to slip by her friends through the window. She walked around town, still wearing her clothes from yesterday, her hair unkempt, her eyes puffy and red, her lips partially quivering. Townspeople were looking at her quizzically but she didn't care. She wanted to be alone. Away from the questions of her friends. Alone so that she could think. Finding no other refuge, Kaoru decided to walk towards the Shinto shrine to pray.
Upon arrival, Kaoru kneeled down in front of the altar and started praying, Oh God… No matter how I try… No matter how I reason with myself… I feel like I am dying inside. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to think. My mind is screaming one thing and my heart another. Why is this life so complicated? I know that the signs are against Kenshin and I… but I love him so much. Oh please… I am so confused now, please help me. Please give me another sign…anything…
"Kaoru! Kaoru!" Misao panted. "We.. have… been… looking everywhere for you."
Kaoru bowed at the statue before her for the last time and turned around, "Huh?"
"Kuso! Jou-chan, you almost gave us a heartattack!" Sano said
"You could've told us were you were going!!" Yahiko yelled.
"We have a letter for you from Kenshin," Aoshi replied.
Kaoru's face fell as she fought back the tears, which are threatening to spill. She turned her back on them and whispered, "I'm not interested." Kaoru fisted her hands on her skirt. She crunched them so hard that her knuckles were already turning white. Trying to control the quivering of her voice, she said, "I'm sorry if you went all the way here to look for me. I am not going to read the letter. I am going home." Kaoru started to walk away when Megumi grabbed her arm, turned her around to face her and then slapped her.
Kaoru stared wide-eyed at the repeat of events.
Megumi glared at her, "Stupid girl! You don't even know half of what…"
"Stop it, Megumi. She needs to find that out for herself," Aoshi cut.
Megumi handed her the letter and said, "I don't care what you do after this but if you really love Ken-san, you should at least know his side of the story. You owe him that… to at least read his letter."
Kaoru nodded in resignation as she accepted the letter. She took a deep breath and opened the letter.
Kaoru,
First of all, I want to apologize to you for many things. For not saying goodbye… For leaving you in the first place… For loving you so much… I love you, Kaoru. I won't deny it. With all my heart and soul, I do. That is just it… I love you so much that it's killing me inside to know that we are not meant to be… That our love is wrong. It pains me to say this… please believe me. It's just that this is the truth and we have to accept it no matter how hard it seems.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she continued reading its contents.
Kaoru, I do not want to hurt you like I did before. I am afraid that if I stay, we are bound the same doom we suffered before. I am so confused now but what I am sure of is that I don't want that to happen to you again. I just love you too much. There… I've said it. Love, I think we need to move on. For our sake… For yours.
Love, before we part our ways for good, I just want to say… I love you.
Sessha
Finally, after finishing reading the letter, she held it close to her heart as she dried the wet trails on her cheeks.
"You know, busu…" Yahiko suddenly appeared behind, "I don't really know what Kenshin sees in you but as he said… he is really confused… now don't be stupid and follow him…"
Steam rose from Kaoru's head as her eyes twitched in irritation. She smacked Yahiko to the floor and yelled, "Yahiko!!! I can't believe you read my letter…"
"It was Misao's idea…" Yahiko said as he passed out on the floor.
"Wwhhhhhaattttt!!!!!?" Kaoru exploded.
Misao cowered from behind and squeaked, "Kaoru-chan… let me explain.
"Feh! The old Jou-chan's back," Sano remarked.
She regained composure and smiled sincerely as she shook her head, "…I don't know if I'll ever be the same again without Kenshin… but I won't give up on him. That is why I'm going back to Kyoto and I'm going to get him."
"So are you going to Kyoto to follow him like…" Misao's statement was cut short when Sano covered her mouth with his hands.
"What Misao was trying to say is that take care of yourself," Sano continued nervously.
Yahiko recovered and said while rubbing his head, "Tsubame and Tae are waiting for you their hotel rooms. I'd hurry up if I were you, Kaoru. The plane is leaving in an hour."
Kaoru covered her mouth and gasped, "Then, I better go… Thanks you everyone!!! I'm glad to have great friends like you!!!" With that, Kaoru bolted out of the shrine and headed to the hotel. Kaoru stopped on her tracks and giggled, "Oops, wrong way." She turned around and ran the opposite direction.
"Anything for you, Jou-chan, this is the least we could do for everything you had given us, past and present," Sano said, his eyes softening.
Megumi eyed him jealously and said, "Tori-chan, don't tell me you're falling for her."
"My, my, my. I didn't know you cared, kitsune-chan," Sano replied pressing a soft kiss on Megumi's lips.
~~~~~
"Tae! Tsubame!" Kaoru called out, breathing heavily. "I almost thought I wouldn't made it."
"Well, you're here just in time," Tae replied. "By the way, we already took care of things. Here's your plane ticket," she said as she handed a few papers to Kaoru.
"Thank you very much!" Kaoru said, hugging Tae.
"Where's your companion?" Tsubame asked.
"Huh?"
"Hey ugly! Wait up!!" Yahiko demanded.
"Yahiko!? What are you doing in here?"
"To accompany you… obviously."
"Me or Tsubame?"
They were about to engage in a fight when Tsubame interrupted.
"So you're going after Ken-san?" Tsubame asked, trying to hide the flush on her face from the earlier comment.
Kaoru nodded and said, staring into space, "I just wish I could find him."
"You will… Kaoru-chan… You will."
Kaoru nodded as she looked into the sky. Thank you Kami-sama for everything. I hope I read your sign correctly. Please help me find Kenshin… Kaoru smiled brightly at her two companions and said, "Come on you guys, I want to arrive at Kyoto as soon as possible." Kenshin… I'm coming for you.
~~~~~~
I can't stop thinking about Kaoru… even when I am in here in the mountains… God! I love her sooo much… I think I am really going crazy. Kenshin thought as he slumped on the sofa. Is she mad at me? Does she still care? Ughhh!!! This is driving me insane. Kenshin closed his eyes envisioning their first kiss inside Kaoru's home. Shaking his head violently, I guess, there is only one thing left for me to do.
Kenshin picked up the phone and dialed a number, "Hello! Nikkon Airlines? This is Kenshin Himura. I would like to purchase a ticket to England. Yes… When is the next flight? Three Hours?" Kenshin paused for a moment, I need to do this… It's for the best… I need to forget… She needs to forget "Okay, I'll bring my payment there." England… hope you help me move on…It's for the best
…that's right, keep telling yourself that.
Author's Notes:
Okay, so I had updated this just so you know that even if I posted new fics… it doesn't mean that I have neglected my other ones. The real world is pulling me down so please bear with me. Examinations takes most of my time and undefined relationships crushes me.
Anyway, please leave me a review to make chibi-angel happy and just so I would know the estimate of how many people are actually reading this fic.
Lastly, the conclusion of the story would be next. Stay tuned. Sounds soap opera-tic, ne?
Leave me a review and make me happy.