Disclaimer: NOT MINE! *huff*

Kendo no Go
In The Language of Kendo
A Fanfic in 100 Chapters
Akai Kitsune
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24) Chills
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Kenshin hated winter.

He hid it surprisingly well, and the pain he felt had been dampened by their marriage, but Kaoru could see something flat and emotionless in his eyes during the first snowfall. She watched him as he walked through the snow, his sandals gently crunching the pristine white beneath him, and saw how he focused only on where he was going, and ignored - or did not see - the fluttering, spiral descent of chilled rain.

But he smiled; he always smiled. She felt as if there was nothing in the world that could make his smile disappear. Nothing.

In winter, she took great lengths to see that he was as comfortable as she could make him, without his notice or questioning. She had never truly liked the scent of white plums before, as a perfume for herself, but after Kenshin's admittance of his previous marriage, she avoided it like the plague. Every night, if he had been particularly silent or thoughtful that day, she held him close to her until they were both asleep, her hands deep in his hair, knowing that it was a comfort, something familiar.

"Tomoe used to do that."

'Would they ever have been in bed together, if she did not love him?' she wondered, but was appalled by her curiousity afterwards. She had no right to know, no reason to hear the answer to that question, and plenty others.

She always noticed, however, that no matter how they had fallen asleep together, he in her arms, or both of them apart, every night during the coldest season of the year, she awoke with his arms curved around her, his face in her hair, surrounded by the faded scent of jasmine.

Kaoru loved winter; the way the snow fell around her like glittering stars, white and cold on her skin. She loved the way the tiny flecks of ice melted on her cheeks, streaming down to her chin, soft as a butterfly's tickle or Kenshin's touch. She loved the way her antics, childish as they sometimes were, always managed to make him smile, despite the memories, the pain, the visions of white plum and blood that must have been dancing through his mind.

Most times, her smiles evolved into laughter, especially during practice with Yahiko which usually changed to snowball fights in mere moments, dragging Kenshin away from his chores to join their fun if they could convince him. During those afternoons of icy wetness and chilling enjoyment, his memories and her fears dissolved in the distilled sunshine of glowing, mischievous eyes. Afterwards, they found escape from the cold in the kitchen, drinking tea while Kenshin sifted through her mother's old recipes, hunting for a suitable treat to accent their dinner. Later still, when Yahiko had gone home to Sano's longhouse, tired but grinning, Kenshin lit a strong fire beneath the bathhouse, and they sought comfort and solitude from the frozen outdoors within the heated waters, together.

At night, when they were weary and warm, they retreated to a readied futon, cuddling close, soft whispers echoing through the dark room, and she would brush her hands through his hair as she held him close, the close fragrance of water and soaps mingling with their combined jasmine and ginger.

And in the morning, with rays of the winter sun as heralds for their awakening, she opened her eyes to find herself in his arms again, his nose in her hair, her cheek rested on the lithe, scarred flesh of his chest, his scent lost in the midst of her perfume.

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Hm, kind of happy and sad at the same time. *shrug* I don't even know anymore... sorry it was so short, though.

This chapter was partially inspired by Jan's fanfic, "Snow". A lovely story, ^_^ and it really captures the heart of Kenshin in winter.

The chapter's original title was "Cold". Another chapter where I had to more or less wing it...

Reviewer Responses:

April-san: Yes, the cat, heh... actually, she'll come back in another chapter, in a rather important part... chapter 31, I believe... oro, I just gave it away. Oh well, ^_^ something to look forward to, I guess. I update fast because the chapters are so short, it's easy to write them. Er, that actually depends on whether the muse is cooperating or not, I guess.

Calger459: Past 100 chapters?! Oi! First people were asking me if I could even go that far, now you want to know if I'm going further... ^_^;; Well, once Kendo is actually finished, I'll look into doing maybe a sequel of sorts, using a different idea. This fic is based off of the novel, which uses the Standard Word Association Test as a guideline. If there are any other novels out there which have the same sort of format, it would definitely be an interesting follow-up project. *grin* I'll look into that.

More coming soon!