Departure Scars
Chapter 11:
"I'll Try"She leaned against him, licking her lips subconiously. She could feel the heat of his breath flowing gently on her face. His lips parted. And in one moment they joined. They're warm lips pushing against one another; letting the heat of their love flow together. Their delayed happiness finally united for an instant. And in one moment they parted. Looking lovingly into each other's eyes.
"Good night..." They whispered and separated for the nights rest.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~X~x~x~x~x~x~x~
Early the next morning Kaoru awoke to the soft singing of birds outside. She silently rose from her futon, folded it up and put it away. Next she sat down in front of her dresser and picked up some fresh, clean bandages. Kaoru looked at them for a moment, remembering everything that had happened and she began to worry.
"I can't tell Kenshin what I did...I can't...he would be so upset. What if Megumi or Yahiko or Sanosuke tell him what I did?...But they don't even know that he's here...they don't even know that I remember! Why didn't they tell me what happened? Oh Kami...how am I going do all this?!"
Kaoru looked thoughtful and began removing the wrappings around her chest.
"Well...I have to go first things first. I have to hide the bandages...then...I'll go out and tell all of them that he's here...but how in the hell am I going to do that?!...um...Think Kaoru, think!...let's see...maybe this is just one of those things that you suddenly blurt out. I guess I'll do that during breakfast. That should have an interesting affect..."
A little part of her wound had barely opened from her sudden run the previous night but it wasn't too bad. Kaoru thought that her injury actually looked a lot better. She gently dabbed a cloth onto it, wincing slightly and began to re-bandage it.
"Even after I tell them, I can't teach lessons or help Yahiko and I can't practice either. So I won't have any income at all. How am I going to feed them, let alone myself and keep Kenshin from finding out?! I'm starting to wish that I hadn't done that to myself."
Kaoru put on her nice, flowery kimono and combed her hair.
"...Alright! First of all...hide the bandages and rest a lot so this wound will heal quickly."
She looked around her room thoughtfully.
"Find some way to clean the huge blood spot on the floor or cover it up. Maybe I could redo the tatami mats there. But I'll have to do that it worst comes to worst. And Kenshin can smell blood...so I should really take care of that soon...actually, I can smell it myself so I need to get that done today."
Kaoru frowned, eyeing the stain. Then she turned and slid the shoji open. Glancing back at her room once more she stepped out and shut the shoji.
"That'll give me something to do other than train Yahiko."
She entered the kitchen to nearly bump into Megumi, who was bringing out breakfast.
"Oh, you're up. I was just going to send Yahiko to wake you. How are you feeling?" she asked as she walked out into the next room and set the food on the low table.
"I'm fine. The wound is looking a lot better." Kaoru smiled reassuringly.
"That's good to hear." Megumi said. Kaoru nodded and walked to the open doorway. Yahiko and Sanosuke sat bickering on the porch. "Doesn't look like he went to wake me up."
"I say you're the stupidest person I've ever met rooster head."
"No one could be stupider than you in a million years Yahiko-chan!"
"What?! I'm not the one who fell of the porch!"
"You liar!"
"Oh, shut up! It's time for breakfast." Kaoru interrupted. Yahiko and Sanosuke stopped bickering and fallowed her inside.
Breakfast began quiet, like it had been since Kenshin left. No one seemed to notice the nervous way Kaoru picked at her food, trying to get the right moment to blurt out the truth. She nibbled on her rice and then suddenly slammed her chopsticks down. The group jumped and giving her a questioning looks.
"He's here!" Kaoru exclaimed, then glanced around uncomfortably.
"Who?" The other three said in unison.
"Um...Kenshin."
"Whaaat?!" Yahiko cried.
Megumi dropped her chopsticks and Sanosuke nearly choked on his food.
"Kenshin is...here?" She repeated nervously.
"Where?!" Sanosuke demanded. His face held mixed emotions.
"In...his room." Kaoru replied, meekly. Sanosuke suddenly jumped to his feet.
"I'm going to kick that bastards goddamn ass!" he growled and began to stomp off. Kaoru ran after him, fallowed by Megumi and then Yahiko.
"Sano! Wait!" Kaoru yelled. "Stop!" She grabbed the back of his jacket just as he slammed the shoji open angrily.
"Kenshin you fucking bastard!" Sanosuke yelled dragging Kaoru with him as he stomped up to the Rurouni.
Kenshin rose to his feet quickly, not flinching as Sanosuke's fist smashed across his face.
"Sano! Stop this now!" Kaoru yelled as Sanosuke lifted Kenshin back to his feet by his gi. She lunged herself past Sanosuke and grasped the hand that was clutching the magenta fabric. "Sanosuke, stop it!" Kaoru shouted. She gently tugged his fingers away from the gi. "Let me explain. I wasn't finished, before." She looked pleadingly into his eyes. "Please?" Sano sighed and lowered his arm.
"Fine." he muttered and plopped down onto the floor in front of her. "Explain." The rest of the group lowered themselves to the floor as well.
"Well..." Kaoru started slowly and began to tell them what happened.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~X~x~x~x~x~x~x~
After a while, without any interruptions, Kaoru finished the story...leaving out some of the personal confessions part. They all sat in silence for a moment thinking about what Kaoru had said.
"So you want us all to go to Kyoto with Kenshin?" Yahiko questioned.
"Hai." Kaoru replied.
"Gomen nasai for not saying goodbye. I should have." Kenshin apologized, bowing lightly.
"Ken-san, we understand." Megumi inhaled deeply and stood. "As much as I would like to join you, I have to stay and care of patients." She gave him a small smile and quietly walked out of the room. The unusually silent Yahiko left as well.
Kaoru glanced at Sanosuke curiously. He sat unmoving, seeming to be thinking hard. She looked back at Kenshin. His bangs hid his eyes and his lips were pressed tightly together. She wondered if he was still angry.
"Well..." Sanosuke spoke. "As long as Jou-chan is happy and well." Kaoru's eyes widened at this. She knew exactly what he was hinting at. Even though she had explained that she found Kenshin and worked things out, she hadn't even touched the subject of her amnesia and the suicide attempt.
She watched Sanosuke carefully as he left the room. Kaoru knew that she would have to tell Kenshin the truth sooner or later and she dreaded it. Her stomach had started to turn every time it crossed her mind. "I just know that he's going to angry with me. Really angry." She turned towards him. "Still...I should think about when I'm alone. Kenshin looks really guilty. I know he meant well."
"Kenshin, it'll be alright. They missed you...it's just been hard for everyone...and that includes you. Just give them some time." Kaoru smiled reassuringly. "C'mon, lets eat breakfast." She gave him a quick peck on the forehead and disappeared behind the door.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~X~x~x~x~x~x~x~
Over the next two days things had been going pretty smoothly. Kenshin had resumed doing the laundry, Kaoru had changed the bloody tatami matt and had told Yahiko, Megumi and Sanosuke that she remembered everything and had somehow persuaded them to not tell Kenshin about her suicide attempt and the fact that she had forgotten him completely. She wanted to be able to do it herself...but when and how...she didn't know. Megumi and the others had also explained why they hadn't told her what had happened and Kaoru understood.
They were planning to leave for Kyoto the fourth day after Kenshin had returned. Megumi had instructed that Kaoru needed some rest because she had been 'sick' with the 'flu' and needed extra energy for the trip. Kenshin believed it and had been fussing over her a lot.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~X~x~x~x~x~x~x~
It was the day before they were going to leave. Kaoru had woken up early so she could pack, clean and maybe train a bit. She began with her daily routine of changing her bandages and cleaning the wound. She pulled the wrappings off her body and reached for the fresh, clean ones, hidden under her kimonos. She gently unraveled a long piece of a bandage and ripped it off.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~X~x~x~x~x~x~x~
Kenshin quietly re-entered the dojo after picking some fresh summer flowers for Kaoru. He was going to set them next to her futon as surprise when she woke up.
As he walked down the hallway towards her room he gently tried to arrange the flowers so they would look nicer. "Maybe I could use one of her hair ties to hold them together. I don't think that she would mind. Or I could use mine. I have a few extra." He thought. Kenshin quickly slipped into his room and grabbed his hair tie and rapped it around the stems of the flowers. "Perfect." He smiled warmly as he slid Kaoru's shoji open.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~X~x~x~x~x~x~x~
"Oops." Kaoru breathed as one of the rolls of bandages dropped to the floor. She carefully bent over to pick it up. When she sat back up her whole body froze as she noticed the figure standing in her bedroom doorway. Her mind went numb. A wave a shock flowed over her body, making her jump to her feet. Her arms clamped over her naked chest and she let out a ear piercing shriek.
The small bouquet of flowers dropped to floor and became forgotten.
Kenshin was unable to move. His expression held complete shock. He stared, horrified at the stunned, half-naked woman before him.
Kaoru took a step back, suddenly breathing heavily.
Realization had just hit her like a brick wall. Her arms pressed tighter around her chest.
Her dark secret was no more.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~X~x~x~x~x~x~x~
Translations:
Shoji- a door with rice paper lining, inside a traditional Japanese house, it has all those squares, y'know?
Kami- god
Gomen nasai- I'm sorry
Jou-chan- Sanosuke's nickname for Kaoru. It means missy/little girl
Hai- yes
Author's Notes: Yay! Another chapter done! I hope you liked it! ^-^ I'm trying to get to get one more chapter done before I go on vacation. (I'll be gone for a month, so I won't be updating for a while.) I don't want to lose my idea! I think since I lost a lot of my readers when I wasn't able to update for so long. ;_; *sniff* If you are still reading this fic, please review! I want to know what ya'll think and if anyone is still there!
P.S. I wasn't able to get another chapter done... *sniff* gomen! I'll have to write when I come back...I sorta have to leave in two hours. And a surprise! I guess most of my readers are still there! (^-^ I feel so fuzzy and warm inside now!)
