Hello nice reader people! Comments at the bottom so you can get right into the story ^_^
DISCLAIMER: I don't own RK!
*Chapter 10*
It was mid morning. Miname's head was on her desk, her mouth wide-open in sleep. The pages of her books rustled gently in time with her breathing. Fortunately for her, Yamagata-sensei was severely short-sighted and too engrossed in the algebra lesson to notice.
Annoying bump against her back. Unconsciously, her hands came up to swat the disturbance away.
Itai!!!!! She was wide-awake, tensed like a spring and ready to pounce. She glared all around her threateningly - before she found the source of the annoyance. Natsumi was using a thick and dusty book to nudge her. She snatched the book out of her grasp and shoved it irritably under her desk... before resuming her original position and slowly drifting back to sleep again.
*****
Here's your mouldy old book. Miname tossed it into Natsumi's lap. It was lunch time, and most of the class were tucking into their bentos in the classroom. Never - NEVER - interrupt me in the middle of a nap. She had already finished eating and was now swinging herself between two desks.
I was going to give it to you anyway, Natsumi shrugged, putting the book back onto her desk. Himura-san asked that I do some research for him.
Miname flung herself back in her chair and turned around to face her friend, It must have had to do with Kogoro-whatshisface or you'd never...
Actually, it hasn't. Natsumi's face was perfectly expressionless. If you must know, he asked me to find out about a kendo school and a Kamiya Kaoru.
And you did?! Miname's jaw went slack. This was Natsumi . In all the time they had known each other, Miname had never seen her do anything altruistic - if it cost her.
Here was another first. Natsumi's paper white cheeks were stained a faint pink, Well,I felt I owed it to him, she said stiffly. You know I've been coming over practically every night to get him to corroborate my research on Katsura-sama.
That was true. Kenshin had once let slip that he found Natsumi's obsession very disturbing. On further prodding, he had admitted that he felt Katsura would have run a mile from Natsumi's fascination.
And - I know Miname-chan has been helping him try to get back to his time, without much success. I thought I could help by pushing the effort in another direction.
Miname picked up the book, which had obviously been taken out from the library. Its protective plastic covering was cracked at the corners. She looked into the front cover and found it had been printed in the 60s.
It was hard going,' commented Natsumi as she watched her friend flip through the pages randomly. Most books don't even mention the kendo school he asked about - the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu.
A comprehensive guide to the more obscure schools of kendo... Miname read the blurb on the sleeve jacket.
Page 158, supplied Natsumi, as she snapped her lunch box shut and stowed it away.
Miname turned to it and began to read aloud, The Kamiya Kasshin Ryu is yet another example of the many schools founded around the same time that were centred around the philosophy of non-violence... blah blah central tenet sword that protects blah blah whatever whatever... echoing wider societal changes whatever...founded by Kamiya Koshijiro, who was succeeded upon his death by his daughter, Kamiya Kaoru.... Daughter!! Miname put the book down with a bang. It's a girl!, she whispered to Natsumi.
Natsumi had started reviewing notes for the next lesson.
Miname kicked her desk, It's a girl!
Natsumi stated, reaffixing her glasses on her nose. Its safe to assume that Himura-san harbours feelings of some sort for this Kamiya Kaoru.
You're probably understating it, Natsumi-chan, said Miname, running her fingers through her hair in perplexity, but what I don't understand is, if there is someone important waiting for Kenshin, why is he conducting research on her? Why not just take my pendant and use it right away? It doesn't make... uh-oh.
Her own words flashed through her head. "Honestly, Kenshin, is it so important that you go back anyway? Isn't it better being here where no one knows who you are, then back in the Meiji where you're hated and feared? I mean, what's life like there for you? ...and your friends - wow, talk about exciting - man, I bet there are people just waiting to take you out"....
Of course Kenshin wants to go back, she thought, but is he willing to sacrifice what he wants for the safety of his friends?.. Me and my big mouth!!
She shut the book thoughtfully.
*****
Kenshin finally managed to escape Kazuo's clutches. Although, he reflected as he made his way to the storage shed, those recollections of his grandfather Yahiko were a blast to listen to... Kenshin blinked as he surveyed the shed. How strange - he had spent his very first night at the dojo in this very place.
He coughed violently as he swung the doors open - clouds of dust swirled into the morning air. The windows had been blocked up and it appeared that noone had done any cleaning for aeons. Junk of all sorts were piled in mounds throughout the room, and everything was blanketed by a thick grey layer of dust. He coughed some more and stood by the open door, waiting for his eyes to become adjusted to the dark.
The piles near the front looked to modern. He edged past them, nearly tripping up over a hot pink Barbie Dream Mobile, and headed for the stacks near the back. He stopped at a likely looking pile and began to poke around.
Well, what do you know - Kenshin unrolled a scroll and found yet another painting by Kaoru's grandfather. He was surprised it had survived at all, but concluded that Kaoru must have not known of its existence or it would have long been pawned off for another gyunabe meal at the Akabeko. He rolled it back up carefully and replaced it where he had found it, before turning his attention to a wooden trunk.
He lifted the lid gingerly and found that it was nearly full. The first few layers consisted of scattered photographs...He narrowed his eyes for a better look in the dim light. Unmistakable - they were photos of Yahiko's descendants - they all had the same spiky hair. He took hold of them, sat himself down by the trunk, and began to shuffle through the stack, amused.
He lifted one out of the pile. A family photo of Yahiko and his kids! Yahiko looked middle-aged in the photo, physically trim but a little...jowelly? Oh well, Tsubame had shown great promise as a cook. He counted the children - two girls and two boys. All of them looked as if they had inherited Yahiko's feistiness. Although... Tsubame looked different too - there was a definite glint of steel behind that gentle smile. So much for subservient wife! Kenshin smiled to himself. He had always been careful to keep his opinion to himself, but he had thought that Yahiko really needed those regular bashing from Kaoru. It looked like Tsubame had taken over right where Kaoru had left off...
He tidied up the stack of photographs and put them aside, burrowing deeper into the trunk.
Wait a minute...this looks familiar...He lifted out a bundle wrapped in worn pink cotton.
That's my spare gi!!!!! Kenshin felt like kissing the old rag. It came from having so few possessions, everything felt like an old friend.
He unwrapped the bundle carefully, revealing...yellowed photographs of the Kenshin-gumi taken on their trip to Yokohama by train (Sano was nothing but a blur on the edge of some of these, when he had decided to run at the last minute and risk Kaoru's wrath); a length of faded blue silk, unevenly coloured (how many hours had he spent washing the blood out? And then the dye had run!); a tiny scent bottle (he didn't have to open it to know it contained jasmine); a pair of dolls...?
Kaoru-dono played with dolls? Disturbing. One of them had been made to look like him, down to the cross-scar. He patted chibi-Kenshin on the head distractedly. Had Kaoru made these? She had been pretty deft with the needle and would make her way through piles of mending whenever she waited up for any of them. He set the two dolls side by side on the floor.
The last thing in the pink bundle was a worn blue journal. It bore Kaoru's name on the front.
Kaoru-dono kept a journal as well? He wondered how many other things she had done that he was not aware of. It chilled his heart to realise how like strangers they were, although they lived together, spent most of their time together and talked over a million inconsequential things...
But I appreciate that. She never pressed me to reveal things I wasn't ready to reveal. She trusted me enough to not have to know everything about me. Kenshin ran his hand down the cover of the journal, and I never wanted to know more than she wished to show either.
It felt terrible to think of breaking that trust and reading her journal, as if he were forcing himself, uninvited, into her innermost thoughts. But he wanted - needed - to know that she would be all right...
You read Tomoe's journal, his inner voice piped up, so reading Kaoru-dono's too would be only fair...
He groaned and told his inner voice to shut up.
Besides, where you are in time right now, she's dead...it went on relentlessly, and if you are truly honest with yourself - you know in your heart you have already decided that you will not go back to the Meiji at all... this is not indecision, it's procrastination, making excuses...
He winced imperceptibly. Why had Kaoru kept parts of herself from him? Was it really because she didn't want to share them with him, or was it because she knew that he hadn't been ready to share them with her?
It's fear that has made up your mind to remain in the present. Fear of acknowledging the depth of emotion you have for Kaoru, for your friends... fear of the implications and the bonds, fear of future pain, fear of the claim on your heart.
The time he had tried to say something at Sano's instigation had been merely a feeble attempt to solve an internal problem with external actions. As if the simple fact of changing the status of their relationship from friends' to married' would automatically remove the emotional barriers he was still maintaining. The same for all the little things he had begun to do - sparring with Yahiko, for example...
His mind presented him with two options - leave the journal, leave the dojo and begin a new life in the present. Or - leave the journal, leave the present and accept it all - friendship, love, the pain and the fear.
I have to move on. Firmly, Kenshin proceeded to replace the journal...
The journal slipped out of his hands and landed, open-faced on the floor.
Can't...look...Argh!! Kenshin scrunched both eyes shut in an effort to fight his natural curiosity - which had always been very strong. It's only one page, his inner voice wheedled. He opened one eye -
[Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!!!!! First Kenshin and now Sano is missing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
He slammed the journal shut fiercely, muttering dire threats to his inner voice. Determinedly, he put everything back where he had found it (he had second thoughts about his spare gi, but decided to leave it). It was only as he shut the trunk lid that he began to think about what he had actually read.
Oh well - Kenshin dismissed it as he left the shed. Perhaps Kaoru had written that after he had left for Kyoto. If he remembered correctly, Sano had also left unceremoniously soon after he had.
A loud yell greeted his ears as he closed the doors behind him.
Wh..who are you?? Aiieeeee!! Intruder!!!!!!!!. A loud commotion broke out from the direction of the practice hall.
He ran towards the sound and skidded around the corner just in time to catch a glimpse of a flapping aku shirt dash out the main gates of the dojo and into modern day Tokyo...
Notes:
Che, another serious bit. If I do another fic, I'll make sure that its silly all the way through - these serious things really mess up my momentum.
Bob the Almighty:^_^ Really? Not Mary-Sue's?? Phew, and thanks for review!!!! I actually threw in extra faults into Miname's character cause I was afraid she might turn out like that...
Firehawk: Hope this is soon enough...! I will finish this fic, promise!! @_@
Ryulabird: Patience, patience.... Sano Unleashed will be coming soon... ^_^
NightRain: Me, a loon? Well, y'know, they say it takes one to know one... But, seriously, am honoured ^_^ - I've always taken great pride in my insanity.
