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A ticket to ride
Kaoru stepped into the ticket office, looking out onto the covered landing beside the soot black mammoth. She'd always loved train rides ever since her first when she was twelve. But this was the first time she'd be traveling alone. It didn't seem as fun without Kenshin and the rest of the gang. Especially without Kenshin. "This trip will be the last for a while." She thought, fanning herself with a folded news flier. "I wish it was a little cooler, I guess the train isn't helping." She thought, watching the steam lazily pouring out of the huge black engine.
"Ma'am, can I help you?" The man in the ticket booth asked. Kaoru turned to the voice. She'd been concentrating on her thoughts to such extent that she hadn't noticed the line moving forward.
"Gomen nasai." She said, stepping forward, holding a smile despite the slightly embarrassing moment. "I need to go to Tokyo."
"I see," The man said, pulling out a blank ticket, and carefully filling out the information. [ Tokyo, engine No. 5, Track 2, Departs 2:15] Kaoru's attention wandered again. A middle aged woman was at the next window, she had three children. Two, a girl and a boy, were fidgeting, trying their best to entertain themselves without embarrassing their mother. The third, the youngest, was holding her Kimono. Kaoru smiled, wondering if she'd be in the same place someday. "She must be happy." She thought.
"Here you go ma'am." The man in the booth said, extending a neatly written ticket.
"Arigatou." Kaoru said, bowing. She picked up her bag and walked toward the covered landing.
"But, I thought that children this young weren't charged for." The woman said, softly.
"I'm sorry miss, Infants aren't charged for, and they specifically tell us if the child can walk, it's not an infant. I'm very sorry." The man in the other booth said.
"But sir, I can't afford the tickets if you charge for him." She said, even softer.
"Yes, I understand, but I can't break the rules, I'll get fired. I'm very sorry miss. I may be able to fit you on tomorrow's train to Yokosuka," He said, thumbing through his schedule books. The woman looked down at the money in her hand.
"Thank you, but I can't afford a hotel either, I was hoping to make it to Tokyo today.
"Are we still gonna ride on the train, Oneesan?" the little girl asked.
"We'll have to walk to the next town, with a train station, the price will not be as high." Kaoru instinctively stepped back into the ticket office.
"Excuse me, Did you say you were headed to Tokyo?" She asked, smiling diplomatically. The woman, glanced up at Kaoru.
"I'm going to Tokyo also, I really hate taking long trips by myself." She hinted.
"Oh no, it's alright, the next town isn't that far away and…"
"If I paid the difference for the boy's ticket, we could go to Tokyo together." She said, being more blatantly obvious.
"No really, I…"
"Yay, we can ride the train now!" The girl said somewhat loudly in elation.
"Shush Kumiko, It's rude to be so loud." The woman said, softly to the girl.
"it's not that much really, I'd be glad to help out." She added. The woman stood back upright, and started to protest again.
"Please Oneesan."
"Yeah, We wanna ride the train." Her children begged.
Kaoru felt something strange about the woman. She didn't know why or how, like she had known her from somewhere. She studied the woman as the children tried to convince her to agree. She was slightly pale, but her skin was very creamy looking. Her hair was a beautiful shining black. It was altogether short aside from two long pieces than hung down by her cheeks. Her frame was very feminine, her shoulders sloped beautifully into her arms, and her hands were delicate looking. She had somewhat sad looking eyes, but they were offset by the smiles she kept flashing while talking with the children. Finally she stood back up from her kneeling position beside the young girl.
"Arigatou young miss." The woman said bowing deeply.
"Great, my name is Kamiya Kaoru." Kaoru said, bowing as well.
"Nayase Eiko," The woman said, rising from her bow. "This is Tsutomu," She said, putting her hand on the oldest boy's head. "Kumiko," She said, putting the other hand on the girl's head. "and Sansuke." She said, looking down at the youngest boy.
"Pleased to meet you all." Kaoru said, bowing again.
"I can't thank you enough for buying a ticket for Sansuke. I can repay you when we get to Tokyo, I can cook, clean, sew, I can even sow crops if you need…" Eiko rambled. Kaoru giggled despite her new friend's seriousness.
"You don't have to plant me a garden." She said, grinning. "It's payment enough to have some company on the trip." She finished.
"You're sure it's alright, even a child's ticket to Tokyo is a bit pricey." Eiko noted, glancing at her.
"It's fine, I usually have my husband to keep me company on long trips, but he's busy at home.
"Yay, Oneesan, the train's moving!" Sansuke chirped.
"I see, stay in your seat Sansuke." Eiko said softly, smiling at the child. She glanced out the window at the moving scenery, then returned her attention to Kaoru. "So you are married, I figured a beautiful young girl like you would have a handsome husband." Eiko said.
"Ah…" Kaoru started, blushing tremendously. "He's really a wonderful man." She said, almost glowing from Eiko's 'beautiful young girl' comment.
"You're a very lucky girl, if he is such a man." She said.
"Look Kumiko, cows! MOO!" Tsutomu said, inciting his sister and brother to smash their faces against the glass.
"Yes I think I am lucky, my husband barely lets me do most of the chores. He still does the majority of them." Kaoru replied, the blush still lingering in her cheeks.
"He does the chores? What kind of chores?" Eiko asked.
"Cooking, cleaning, laundry, sewing, mostly stuff like that." Kaoru responded, almost unaware of how uncommon it was for a husband to do all that instead of the wife.
"If I may ask, what is his trade?" Eiko asked, careful not to pry too deep.
"Well, to tell you the truth…" Kaoru started, scrunching her shoulders up. "He doesn't really have one." She said, grinning sheepishly.
"I see," Eiko said, not wanting to pry too deeply. Kaoru took the next step all on her own.
"See, when I first met him, He was just a vagabond, he didn't have any money. I guess I kinda felt sorry for him, and I gave him a place to stay." She said, deliberately not including the fact that he was Hitokiri Battousai, or any kind of swordmaster at all.
"A vagabond?" Eiko started. "You mean you married a bum?" She said quickly. Kaoru turned in surprise to the comment. Eiko's tone and demeanor reminded Kaoru on another woman she knew, a young beautiful doctor who's bore more than a few similarities to a fox. But the look in her eyes spoke a different story, just a friendly joke. "So, you married out of love?" she said, knocking the previous comment aside.
"Yes…" Kaoru responded, not sure what to say next.
"That's good, from what I've seen, those who marry out of love may have more financial trouble, but their love keeps them strong." Eiko finished, giving Kaoru the same warm smile she had given the children earlier.
"Money isn't really a problem, I have a dojo with a few students, it keeps food on the table." Kaoru replied.
"Oneesan, can we go back to the last car so we can see where we've been?" Tsutomu asked, with Kumiko and Sansuke staring at her, waiting for a reply.
"Alright, but be careful when you go from car to car." She said, as they shot up out of their seats and darted for the back. "Kumiko Chan, keep an eye on Sansuke Chan, don't let him fall off the train." She said as they hurried away.
"Alright Oneesan." Kumiko said, waving back at Eiko.
"These are your brothers and sister?" Kaoru asked.
"Oh no, they're orphans, I ran across them when I was traveling through the western region. They had no one to take care of them, Sansuke was still an infant. Their mother had been killed by the yakuza, she had been a geisha, but after having a third child she wasn't as attractive as she used to be. The yakuza boss wasn't satisfied to let her leave, he killed her." Eiko said, the sadness in her eyes seemed to well up, as if she wanted to cry. The deep smiled that stretched it's was across her face pushed tears back. I adopted them, and they've been traveling with me ever since." She finished.
"You never married?" Kaoru asked, instantly wanting to retract her question. Eiko paused for a moment. "I'm sorry Eiko San, I didn't mean…" Kaoru started.
"I was once, long ago…but it didn't work out." She said, interrupting Kaoru's apologies.
"If you don't mind my asking, what happened?" Kaoru boldly pried. She would've been satisfied not knowing if Eiko had married, but Eiko had made a partial statement, "It didn't work out." Kaoru's curiosity wouldn't let her leave it at that, at least not without asking why.
"It was just before the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, he fought in the war… And was killed." Eiko said, her eyes glimmered with sadness, but not because she'd lost a husband, but for something else. Kaoru couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"I'm very sorry." Kaoru said, again, remorseful of her questions.
"No, I should be sorry, I don't want to make this trip agonizing for you. You're traveling home to your husband. So I'll be happy for you." She said, pushing the smile to her face again. Kaoru smiled, hoping she hadn't brought back bad memories for Eiko. After a brief moment of silence, Eiko spoke again. "Tell me more about your husband." She asked, smiling at Kaoru.
"Alright," Kaoru agreed. "He's not much taller than me, except he's got big bushy red hair," Kaoru said, looking forward. Eiko's eyes slowly widened as Kaoru continued her description. "He's really soft spoken, and he's kinda a small man, almost feminine. But he's all man, believe me." Kaoru continued, Eiko lowered her head a bit as she heard more.
"Feminine?" she asked, "You mean his skin is smooth like a woman?" She asked, wondering about his left cheek.
"Yes, his skin is rather soft, some places." Kaoru said, feeling the strange aura of familiarity growing stronger. She looked at Eiko for a moment, perplexed. "Why do I feel like I could tell her everything about me and Kenshin?" She thought, finally deciding to stick her neck out a little. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but he fought in the same war your husband was killed in." Kaoru said. her eyes exploded wide open as she realized Kenshin might have been her husband's killer. She bit her lip to try to think of a way that it couldn't be. Eiko drew in a deep breath and asked.
"What is his name?"
"Kenshin." Kaoru replied, almost shaking. "What if he did kill her husband? I've already brought up obviously painful memories for this woman. If she finds out I'm married to her husband's killer…" Kaoru's mind raced. Eiko looked up at her young companion. Seeing the fear and anxiety in her eyes, she thought quickly to reassure her.
"My husband once knew a man like yours, they fought alongside each other." She said, literally feeling Kaoru's sigh of relief. "This man, had a terrible scar, it's probably gone by now." She added.
"It's still fading." she said, smiling. "He hurt someone very dear to him back then, and his heart wouldn't let the wound heal until recently." Kaoru said, putting her hand on Eiko's, She now knew they were talking about the same man. The man Kaoru had married was the same one Eiko's husband Fought along side. Kenshin.
"Kaoru Chan, if it doesn't invade on your privacy too much, will you tell me about how you two fell in love?" Eiko asked, the tears finally finding their way out of her eyes. Kaoru smiled, and nodded.
"I told you, you can't lean your head out the side like that, you'll get ash in your eyes." Kumiko said to her older brother, who was busy rubbing his eyes. The three children slid through the doorway back into the third car, all of them except Tsutomu keeping a sharp eye out for their big sister. They waded through the flocks of people busy getting their bags ready for when the train stopped.
"Oneesan!" Kumiko called, seeing Eiko still sitting with her new friend.
"Kumiko Chan, did you have fun?" She asked.
"Yes, Tsutomu got ashes in his eyes, I told him not to…"
"Tsutomu Chan, let me see." She said anxiously. He walked carefully to her, still rubbing his eyes. Kaoru watched the scene unfold before her, smiling the whole time. What had seemed so frightening before was perfectly fine now. To her own amazement, she'd not only told Eiko about how they fell in love, but about everything, Shishio, Jin-e, Kenshin's struggle with Battousai, she even told Eiko about Tomoe and Enishi, to which Eiko seemed deeply interested.
"Tsutomu Chan, I can't do anything for it now, well have to get off the train, then we can try to pour some water over your eyes." Eiko said, standing up out of her seat.
The two women walked through the newly constructed train station in Tokyo, followed by a young girl, a little boy, and a boy rubbing his eyes.
"Kaoru Chan, thank you for telling me all about you and your husband." Eiko started. Before Kaoru could say anything, she continued. "I need to tell you some things about me on the way back to your home, and once we get there. My husband…" She paused to gather her resolve. "wasn't killed." She finally said. Kaoru looked over at her in surprise. "The truth is…I left him." She said, looking down at the ground passing just before her feet.
"You left him? Why?" Kaoru asked.
"I don't really know, I thought I knew why then. He thought I was dead, so I thought I could start over again. But the longer and longer I let him think I was dead, the guiltier I felt." She paused to think. "He loved me, but I wasn't sure whether I loved him, or felt pity for him. I know now, I felt pity for me, that's why I let him think I was dead." She said, stopping and turning to Kaoru. "Kaoru, when I first met him, I thought my husband was a brutal killer. The more I got to know him, the more I learned. I found out…he was afraid."
"Afraid? of what?" Kaoru asked.
"Of losing those he cared about. You said, your husband was shattered after he killed his first wife. But I was slowly torn to pieces by the decision I made to keep my life from him." Eiko said. Kaoru's eyes widened as the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. "But hearing about the happy life you have now with your husband, and how he's forgiven himself, It makes me realize that things can turn out for the best in the end." She finished.
"Then…You're…" Kaoru said, her eyes still standing wide open.
"I want to see him again, but I wouldn't dream of Invading the happiness you and your husband share. If his scar is finally healing, I don't want to tear it open again." She said.
"No, I don't think it would. It might hurt him a little at first. But It could only do him good to know he never took the life of that one important person." Kaoru responded, smiling.
"Alright, I will meet him again." She finished.
The sun was setting by the time the two ladies arrived at the front gate of Kamiya Dojo. Three very tired children followed behind. Kaoru opened the latch and pushed the gate open.
"Kenshiiin!" She called. Yahiko slid the dojo door open, and waved.
"Oi Kaoru, I've been busy, I recruited two more students for the dojo, oh, Who's the new friend?" He asked. Kaoru only grinned.
"Where's Kenshin?" She asked.
"He's cooking," Yahiko started hearing footsteps behind him. "oh, Kenshin, Kaoru brought someone back with her.
"Kaoru Dono, Welcome home." Kenshin said, just before he stepped up to the door he felt it, or rather smelled it. The familiar scent, the scent that caught his heart years ago, the scent that calmed his soul after he though Kaoru had been taken from him. White plum. He slid the other half of the door open knowing what he would find. She was turned away from him, talking to a young boy. Her hair was shorter, but the same color. She turned slowly, she skin wasn't as silk-smooth, but it was the same color. His heart ached when he saw her face once again, Her smile, and Kaoru's smile. "She's…alive…I didn't…I didn't kill…" He thought.
"It's good to see you again Kenshin." She said.
"…T…Tomoe…"
To be continued???
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