Ohiyo minna! Ano…::sweat drop:: In light of the recent threat that I have received…I have decided to continue writing again. I HAVE A GOOD EXCUSE THOUGH!! I want to thank everyone who reviewed my fic, and those who have REALLY pushed to get me off of my sorry lazy fat butt…and think of something else. So without further ado…oh yah…I want to dedicate this chappy to my VERY first reviewer and fellow otaku and Battousai worshiper…Kamimura Kaoru. Arigato!! I don't own Kenshin as always.
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"K…Kenshin?" She ran over to him. "Kenshin? What's the matter with you?" His voice startled her. It was cold, distant…deadly.
"Woman, tell me exactly how you know my name, why you seem familiar to me…and why I can't hurt you."
She glanced questioningly at his hidden eyes. With a trembling hand she lifted his bangs and gasped. 'Golden! His eyes are golden!'
"Kenshin." She whispered softly. Her eyes questioned his. "I don't understand how this could happen. Did you have another bad dream?"
He stared, not once taking his eyes off of her, seemingly trying to figure a piece of a mysterious puzzle. Then carefully, as if holding down growing anger, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him, leading her closer to the candles light. "Why are you so familiar to me?" He questioned.
He watched as the girl hung her head low, shading her eyes behind her bangs. Questioningly he bent his head lower to see her face, and was startled to see streaks of tears tracing down her face. 'I didn't even do anything to her!' He wondered, feeling something akin to panic seeping through his body. His golden eyes narrowed again in thought, 'Did I hurt her when she came in the door?' Once again his eyes traced what he could see of her face.
Memories came flooding into him, slow at first, then with growing speed. Visions of a lovely, yet very pissed off woman punching him through a wall. Her getting highly drunk and scolding him for thinking little of himself, and another memory of his face getting smashed against her fist, sending him through yet another wall.
He continued to stare at the woman, who was obviously getting very uncomfortable in the silence.
"Kenshin. Y…You don't remember me?" She took his silence as the answer she had been dreading. Her shoulders slumped slightly. "Kaoru. My name is Kamiya Kaoru."
"Kaoru." He savored the sound of her name on his lips. More memories flooded him. Them walking together in the rain; a young boy with spiky hair being chased by her while calling her names.
Startled at the ferocity of these visions, Kenshin walked over to the main candle in the room and lit it. He then quietly walked over to the still standing woman and sat down next to her, gesturing with one hand for her to sit as well.
Almost as if her knees gave out, she flopped on the floor next to him, in a less than graceful manor, landing nearly on top of him. He gazed at her in concern. "Kaoru…Iie…Kaoru-dono, gomen demo I am just starting to remember some things."
She glanced up at him hopefully. "What do you remember Kenshin."
He sat transfixed by her eyes. In them he saw so much color, so much beauty. It was truly as if he was staring into her entire soul. 'Truly, the eyes are the windows to the soul.' He cringed slightly when he realized that she was still waiting for an answer from him, and coughed to hide some of his discomfort. 'This woman is actually making me feel strange!' He smiled in disbelief.
"Hmm. Well I remember a boy…Yahiko! And tall man with spiky hair…" he fumbled around for the name, which was floating around in the space of his head somewhere.
"Sanosuke." Kaoru helped. "We call him Sano. Then there's Megumi…"
"The female doctor, that's right…" He continued. Suddenly his eyebrows furrowed together in deep concentration.
Alarmed at his sudden change of attitude she scooted closer to him. "Nani Kenshin?"
"There's something I need to remember…something dangerous…" He continued thinking hard.
Kaoru glanced at him. "Kenshin, there is nothing dangerous around here right now. You have already defeated Shishio; there is no one that the government wants you to fight; not that I would let you even if there were…" her voice trailed off.
Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "Not that you would let me?" The corner of his mouth turned up slightly. "Now my dear Kaoru, how would you intend to stop me?"
She glanced at him embarrassed that she had even said that much. The way he was staring at her was just too bizarre for her, like a mixture of amusement and expectancy. "Kenshin…please stop looking at me that way…it's embarrassing."
His mouth twitched again, yet he put a mask on and stared at her with a blank face. "Now, how exactly would you intend to stop me, when you can't even handle me looking at you?" He watched amused as several emotions ran across her face. 'She could never gamble.'
Kaoru couldn't believe this. He was still looking at her in a way that made her body fuzzy and warm. Not that this was a bad thing, but it just wasn't the time for it. She wondered if he even knew how mesmerizing his eyes were. 'Probably not.' She hazard a glance at him. Finding him still expecting an answer, and quite infuriatingly enough, still looking at her in that way, she began to fume silently.
Kenshin's eyebrows raised again as he felt an increase in her Ki. 'This woman in absolutely amazing!' Deciding to test out a theory he snapped his fingers as if in sudden discovery. "That's it!"
Kaoru, startled at his sudden burst of energy, could only stare at him questioningly. His eyes took on a darker more serious tone. "I just remembered what it was that was so dangerous." His voice lowered and he clenched his sword. "It's something you need to be wary of as well."
Kaoru glanced around the room, unaware of any problems. "What is it, what's so dangerous Kenshin?"
His golden eyes met hers as he stared into her soul. Slowely, quietly his face inched towards hers. Their cheeks brushed against each other, as his lips met her ear. He whispered, making sure that no one could hear but her. "Your cooking."
Kaoru blinked, then blinked again as he sat back, facing her once again. "My cooking?"
"Mmm…that's what I need to look out for." He stared at her again with his unreadable mask, waiting for her expected reaction. He was not disappointed; he ticked off the emotions that ran through her eyes on his fingers. 'Let me see…confusion, realization, embarrassment, annoyance, anger…and dear Kami what a Ki. That would be enough anger to kill all the people in Kyoto!'
'My cooking!' Kaoru fumed. 'He can hardly remember me, yet he can remember my horrible cooking!' Her fists clenched and flexed, then clenched again. With a shriek of anger she yelled. "KENSHIN NO BAKA!" She had all the power of a tornado behind her swing, yet before her hand could reach his face, he disappeared, only to reappear at her side. Undaunted, she quickly turned and raised her other hand to hit him.
Reacting slightly in surprise at her sudden turn and her speed, Kenshin grabbed her hand that was on a one-on-one collision course with his skull. He was, however not expecting the foot that came up and kicked him in the shin. He winced at his error, yet grabbed her other hand as it came down as well. Inwardly he grinned at the full string of obscenities she was yelling towards him. He used the full force of his weight to pin the enraged woman down.
Kaoru calmed slightly when she realized the position she was in. Kenshin had her arms above her head and was straddling her waist, using his legs to not only pin her legs down, but to keep his full weight off of her stomach. Her cheeks flamed red as she stuttered.
"K…K…Kenshin!"
Battousai laughed. It was soft and yet somehow harsh. He gazed directly into her eyes, and inside them she saw his raw emotions. Pain, anguish, joy, hope, and love. Everything that Kenshin was, he was showing her through his eyes. Slowly he crawled off her and helped her to sit up again. Too stunned to say anything she saw in silence.
Kenshin glanced at her, aware fully of all the emotions going through her and the changes in her Ki. He smiled, 'this girl is truly fun. It's no wonder I like her.'
After a while of silence, Kaoru stood, and began walking toward the door. Kenshin was behind her in a second. "Where are you going?"
"Hai Kenshin. When I wake up, we'll try to figure out what happened to you." Kaoru glanced at him and sighed. "I don't know what to do about this."
Kenshin shrugged and went to the corner of the room, looking at the door. With a sigh, he sat down, resting the katana over his shoulder and folding his legs in front of him. Kaoru stared at him.
"Kenshin, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" He looked over to her. "I'm going to rest."
She gestured to the futon. "Your bed is right here! It's got covers and everything!"
He shifted his weight uncomfortably. "I prefer this."
Surrendering, Kaoru smiled at him and bade him goodnight, leaving him to his room; a solitaire figure in the moonlight. When she got to her own room, she started shaking.
'What is going on here!'? She threw herself onto her own bed. "Kenshin is still Kenshin, only he looks and acts somewhat like Battousai!" She rolled over and lay flat on her back, draping an arm across her forehead. This was all so confusing to her. Somehow, Battousai was brought out, yet he doesn't act horrible, he was actually playing with her! This was NOT was she would have expected of a man that is considered a most deadly assassin. She grumbled something about not making him dinner and finally began succumbing to the sleep that wanted to claim her. 'Tomorrow will be an interesting day at that. I wonder how Yahiko will react if he comes over.'
Inside his room, Kenshin was deep in thought once again. 'Why was I playing with that girl. I kind of remember her, but still…. the way I was acting was almost as if…' He stared at his hands. He could still feel the warmth of her body near his. 'She makes me feel…almost…complete.' He stood up and paced the room. 'Why is this happening. I try to contain my emotions around everyone, but with her I can't. Why!' He went over the door to his room and opened it, quietly walking over to her room. He could hear her even breathing, as she slept. Sighing he went back to his room and sat back on the floor. No question would be answered tonight; tomorrow he would have to figure out what to do, and exactly what she was to him.
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I KNOW I KNOW…MAJOR OOC'NESS!! Let me explain…I really don't think Kenshin would intentionally hurt Kaoru, however I think I made his attitude a little different, I might change a couple of things. Please let me know what everyone thinks on this ok? Anyhoo I want to thank some people.
Kamimura kaoru- WAI WAI I finally updated!!! Thanks for you letters!
Raphie- Yes I know he is mighty fine man. Mmmm yummy…
Lizzie- thank you, I enjoy incense and I thought it would be perfect.
ArtemisMoon- Bwahahahahaha!! Yes evil cliffhanger! And maybe more to come!
Jason M. Lee- Thank you for all that information! I made sure not to do it in this one!
Nim- hopefully I can do just that!
Susan- There are A LOT of really good Kaoru and Battousai reactions on here. I really like one that's called Meeting of the Minds…I think.
And thank you to everyone else who reviewed and I'm just too tired to personally thank. THANK YOU!!!!!