Departure Scars
Chapter 4:
"Where's Kenshin?"
Blood dripped out of the corner of Kaoru's mouth, sliding down her neck and Sanosuke's arm. She wasn't going to last much longer. "Hurry Yahiko! Please!!"
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The Kamiya Dojo was quiet except for the echoing click of wooden chopsticks in the hands of Yahiko. He sat alone picking at the rice Megumi had prepared for him about two hours ago before rushing to the clinic to treat a ill patient. "At least Kaoru isn't that ill patient." Yahiko thought, trying to feel hopeful. Sanosuke's attempt to save Kaoru's blood and stop her from choking on it had probably saved her life...for now. She had been in a deep sleep for about 4 days with a persistent fever.
He could tell Megumi was extremely worried about Kaoru, but she tried to hide it and show hope. Yahiko worried about her. She looked a bit frail; always staying up late to watch Kaoru or even Sanosuke, who was still healing from the injuries Saitou gave him.
Yahiko sighed and rested his chin in the palm of his hand, poking at the rice with his chopsticks in the other hand. The rice was cold now. He wasn't very hungry either but he picked up a small piece and nibbled on it anyway.
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Light. It shone through the window and deep into her numb mind. She groaned as her eyes drowsily opened. Light streamed into her face as her mind began to realize where she was. She tried to prop herself up with her arms but suddenly a wave a pain surged from her chest and shot up her arms and down her legs as she leaned forward. She sputtered out coughs and wheezes as she clutched her chest with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. She rolled onto her side, trembling from the forceful hacks. She clenched her fists and gasped for air.
"Why am I coughing like this?" She wondered.
When her coughing fit was finished she felt worn out and dizzy. Her head was pounding. With her all her little strength she struggled to her feet and wobbled, dizzily. Finally, with the wall's help, she gained enough balanced to make it to her door.
She didn't know why her chest hurt so much either. It just did. She had to clench her teeth to keep from crying out in agony. Then it dawned on her. "You baka! Why don't you look and see!" She almost laughed at her stupidity but she was to confused and the pain didn't clear her head too much either so she just shook her head very lightly. Kaoru looked down at herself. She was wearing a hakama with no top. Just bandages around her breasts. The bare skin of her belly felt cool in the air. She blushed at the sudden thought of Kenshin seeing her like this. Kenshin...where was he?
Her head was still clouded as she sluggishly wandered down the hall looking for him and forgetting her less than modest clothing in the haze of pain and confusion. When she reached the room where he 'was' staying she slid the door open trying to put on a face that showed the world that she was absolutely fine.
"Kenshin?" She asked after knocking on the shoji and getting no answer. She slid the door open and stepped inside the room. It was a bit dusty and the musky scent of him was faint. His traveling bag was gone and so was his little pile of clothing that always rested on the little table in the corner of the room. Did he leave? It looked like he had been gone for a while...maybe a week. "Wait a second! How long have I been asleep?" Kaoru was so confused she became even more dizzy and began to wobble again.
"Kenshin, where are you?" she called, softly and toppled backwards, crashing against the shoji. She heard faint footsteps quickly heading in her direction behind the storm of sudden, new pain and confusion.
"Kaoru!" She heard a yell behind the blur and saw a young boy with spiky hair grab her arms and carefully shake her, making her senses perk up. She slid down the painful bumps of the shoji wood and until she was sitting the floor with Yahiko on his knees in front of her. "Kaoru, are you okay? Say something!" he exclaimed at her with concern and a bit of relief in his voice.. She pulled away weakly and struggled to her feet again. She held on the his shoulders for support.
"Kenshin...where is he? Where's Kenshin?" she asked.
"Kenshin is...he is...um..." A miserable feeling washed over him. He began to feel like he was the one who had to say good bye. He missed Kenshin so much. Yahiko shook his head to stop the tears forming in his eyes. Kaoru peered at him closely.
"Where...?" She repeated. Yahiko could see her bad state and thinking that he shouldn't tell her at that moment.
Kaoru swayed forwards causing him to step back a little. Then her foot suddenly slipped and she fell backward. Yahiko tried to catch her but unfortunately he was in front of her and she was falling the opposite direction. Her head crashed onto the wooden shoji and her body turned to the side on the floor causing another thump to echo through the old dojo.
"Kaoru!" Yahiko tried to pull her up but she was too heavy. As he put his hand under her head he noticed it felt wet. He looked at his hand to see a little blood smeared on it. He grabbed a pillow from the futon in the room and put laid it under her head. Then he ran into the hall and opened the closet full of bandages that had been there incase Sanosuke or Kenshin got injured again and Megumi wasn't around. Yahiko took out some bandages and ran back to Kaoru, rapping it carefully around her head. He wasn't sure this was right but he thought that it might help. "Kaoru, why did you have to wake up when no one but me was home? I don't know what to do!"
Then he noticed the wrappings around Kaoru's breasts were turning a little red. "Oh no! Her wound reopened! This isn't good at all" Yahiko had no clue what to do. Should he go get Megumi and leave Kaoru or wait for her to come back? If he left no one would be here to watch her and she might take a turn for the worse. If he stayed he would have to wait for Megumi to come back and it might to late. "Well, she should be back soon...so I guess I should stay. Maybe I can try to wake her up."
"Kaoru." Yahiko called again and turned her onto her back. She groaned and her hand twitched. Yahiko thought some more and another idea popped into his head.
"Busu!!" he screamed. He stared at her for a moment, waiting. Kaoru's lips pressed into a small frown. Her eyes opened half way. She blinked several times and glared with slight annoyance at Yahiko. He was overjoyed and a large grin formed on his face. "Ah ha! For once that was good for something!"
"...Don't...scream...Yahiko." Kaoru mumbled, sluggishly lifting her hand to rub her temples.
"Are you alright, busu?" He asked, emphasizing her most hated nickname. "This better keep her awake" She glared at him from the floor.
"...How many times do I have to tell you?" she took a deep, ragged breath, "Don't call me that!" she tried to yell but it came out in a quiet firm voice. She began to sit up. Yahiko raised his hands to try to stop her. Her mouth dropped open and let out a breathless gasp. Again, pain shot up her arms and down her legs, just a few times worse. She fell back down onto the floor wheezing and choking.
"Kaoru, you really shouldn't move! Your wound reopened when you fell and your head is bleeding too. I have to wait for Megumi to come back." He informed her looking worried. "Please stay still. Lets just talk for a while okay?" Kaoru looked at him still wheezing a bit. She barely nodded but he noticed it.
"So...um...did you, ah....um..." "Great, now I can't think of anything to say. What can I ask her? I have to keep her awa--"
"Where...where's...Kenshin?" She asked, squinting at him painfully. "His...stuff...is all gone." She looked confused.
"You don't remember?"
"What...?" she coughed, "Is there something to remember? Where's...Kenshin?"
"Well...he's, uh...um, he sort of..." Yahiko trailed off. He felt sadness overwhelm him and he shook his head to stop tears from forming.
"...Did he..." Kaoru wheezed again. Her head throbbed uncontrollably and blood was beginning to drip out of her wrappings. Yahiko felt really nervous. He didn't want to tell her at all. His hands trembled.
"Kenshin is--"
"Yahiko, you didn't eat your rice!" a female voice called from the hallway.
"Megumi, in here!" he hollered back.
"What are you doing in Ken-san's room?" she asked from down the hall. Then she saw raven colored hair strung out on wooden floor and ran into the room.
"Kaoru, woke up and she was looking for Kenshin but, she fell and hit her head." He explained quickly. Kaoru choked out a cough again.
"Oh, Kaoru!" Megumi exclaimed and lifted her head up gently. Kaoru groaned in pain as Megumi began to try to lift her up to her feet. "Can you help me pull the other arm up?" Yahiko nodded and they had to practically drag Kaoru to her room. She seemed to be barely awake.
Once Megumi had laid her down onto the futon she asked Yahiko to go boil some water and get clean cloths. He brought them to her obediently and was shooed away afterwards.
Yahiko sat down in his room and looked at the wall sadly. It was so hard to see someone that he thought of as a big sister is so much pain. He knew Kaoru had tried to kill herself because she missed Kenshin, but did Kenshin miss her? The crusted stain on her face and the torn up clothes. The pool of blood around her body the dagger. Was it that bad? But now she didn't even remember. Did that make everything in vain or did she want it that way? How much did she forget? Would she ever remember? If she didn't would anyone tell her what really happened?
Didn't Kaoru know that there were many other people that would have been devastated if she died? How could she throw everything away for him? Someone who had left them...and her.
Suddenly he was angry with Kenshin. This was all his fault. If he would have stayed everyone could have been together and happy. Kenshin made Kaoru do this to herself. Kenshin had made everyone so sad. Kenshin never even said goodbye to them. He didn't even know if Kenshin had said goodbye to Kaoru.
Yahiko missed everything so much. So, so much...
Kenshin...he had always been a good person to talk to. He had the best advice and Yahiko loved his swordsmanship. It was astounding to watch. He wondered if Kenshin would come back--he wanted Kenshin to come back.
Now he felt guilty. He just wanted everything to be like it was. He would forgive Kenshin for doing this to Kaoru and everyone would be alright. Kaoru would get better.
They would be laughing and telling jokes about the day. Sanosuke's new brawl, Kaoru's bad cooking and why he shouldn't call her 'busu'. He wanted it back so badly.
"Kenshin...why did you have to leave?" Yahiko whispered and put his face in his hands. Tears slipped into his lap.
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It had been a while since he had left and the whole time he had this nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something bad had happened, but he just tried to tell himself that it was because he missed them so much.
"I should just try to concentrate on going to Kyoto. If I keep thinking about them I'll lose my resolve." He thought as his feet scuffed slowly along the dirt path. "But I...I" Kenshin shook his head and walked more briskly. "I..." Kaoru flashed in his mind. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her eyes were sad and pleading. His chest tightened in response. That was the look she gave him before he left. He came to a abrupt stop in the middle of the forest. "Kaoru-dono..." He looked behind him as his finger-tips brushed against the blood stains on the front of his gi. They were from Kaoru's hands...
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Late that night Yahiko had to stay near Kaoru to be there if she woke up. He decided to sleep in her bedroom doorway. Megumi said that he didn't need to stay awake, because he had looked so worn out. Yahiko had nodded wearily and gone to sleep soon after she had. He barely even snored and didn't even notice when Kaoru began to wake up. She stood up shakily. She groaned and trembled as her body throbbed with worse pain then before, but she didn't care. She really had to go to the bathroom.
As she made her way to the door her foot stepped on something warm and soft. She jumped slightly and peered down at it and saw the outline of spiky hair. She sighed, it was Yahiko.
Carefully, she stepped over him and went out the door.
After she had relieved herself, Kaoru, feeling unable to sleep, wandered the house as the muffled sound of rain drifted into her ears. Soon her feet had led her to the dojo. Kaoru stared at her boken hanging on the wall. She lifted the wooden sword into her hands. A determined look crossed her features. Through the cloud of pain she pulled her body into a fighting stance. She glared at the invisible enemy before her and thrust the boken forward and dodged to the side. She swept her legs around in front of her and jumped in the air, swinging it down to the side. She let a yelp as she jumping the air and brought down her wooden sword. The air swished with it and she turned around and hit her enemy once more. The pain was soon gone and she was lost in the fight.
Minutes later Kaoru collapsed on her knees wheezing and panting uncontrollably. He body was physically unable to continue. She coughed as sweat glistened on her forehead from the small exercise.
The rain outside pounded harder. Her eyes darted around the dojo and she began to push herself up and to the door to the outside. The muffled rain became a louder as the Shoji opened. Mud squished between Kaoru's bare toes as she limped into the yard. Rain poured over her body. She felt a bit refreshed as she closed her eyes and tilted her head upwards to let the rain pour on her face. It was nice and warm. Summer was coming soon.
Her lips curved upwards slightly. Her feet led her farther into the yard until she reached the dojo gates. She lifted her arms to push the gates open to leave. She needed to leave. Just for a short walk to refresh herself. Maybe stand by the stream behind the cherry blossom trees.
She raised her arms to open the gates, but froze. She could hear footsteps and they were right right on the other side of the gate.
Translations:
Gi-Kenshin's shirt.
Baka-stupid, fool, idiot
Hakama-think of Kenshin's pants
Busu-ugly. Yahiko's nickname for Kaoru
Boken-the wooden sword Kaoru uses. It's all wood. Not like the bamboo one Yahiko uses. That's a shinai.
Author's Notes: Hey! I made a pyramid with the translations! *tee hee* ^_^x Anyways, I finally got this one done. I have lot of work with school. I'm surprised at how much I've changed this fic from my original on paper. Still, the storyline is pretty much the same. I think I like this one a little better. Well, please R&R and tell me how the story is going. Time to get onto the next chapter.
(Re-edited.)
