Chapter 8
//Author's Note: This marks the longest fic I've written so far! Yaaay.//
Chomp Chomp.
Scrape Scrape.
Kenshin and Kaoru were finishing their meal together. Throughout the meal, they had talked about various trivial things. Kenshin put his chopsticks down. "Let's talk, Kaoru-dono."
Kaoru looked up from her ramen. "Mmm? But we've been talking through dinner."
"About what? The weather? Yahiko's training? Laundry? What about Misao? Yesterday? Isn't there something on your mind?"
"Ahm.. uhmm." Kaoru blinked a minute. "Y.. yes, yes there is something on my mind."
"Yes, Kaoru-dono?"
"What did you mean when you called me your wife?"
Kenshin blinked. "Ah.. umm.. I, I meant..." He gulped. "I meant to correct myself, Kaoru-dono. I do not think it is embarrassing that other people think we are a couple, but rather... that we aren't."
"So... you want to.. get married?"
"Y- yes.. but-"
"Oh, I'd LOVE to, Kenshin!" Kaoru's eyes lit up. "Really?!"
"Ah-" Kenshin looked into Kaoru's eyes. The candle light danced around her pupils, lighting the blue just right.. they were full. Full of innocence, and trust, and compassion...
"I- I would like to marry you, however... I do- I do not, d- deserve you." /Why are those words coming out so hard?!/ He mentally yelled at himself. /Of COURSE you don't deserve her! You've killed people! You're a murderer! And she... she's an angel! She- she's so innocent, and sweet. Oh look, now you've made her cry! Wait.. she's crying? Oh Shit./
Kaoru felt Kenshin's warm embrace around her sobbing shoulders. "Don't cry, Kaoru..dono.." He whispered softly into her ear, making her body tingle. "Don't cry.. I'm not making excuses, and I do really love you..."
"then why won't you marry me?" Her soft voice whispered barely above breath. Kenshin stroked her hair.
"When you love someone, you can let them go, if it's for their own happiness-"
Kaoru forcefully pulled away from him. "WHAT?! You think that forcing yourself away from me is for my own happiness?! What bull shit! What-- what-- You're so full of it! I can't believe-" Her throat caught and she started sobbing again. "You... w-- why..." Her voice was barely audible above her sobbing.
"Shhhh..." Kenshin wrapped himself around her again and gently carresed her cheek. "Shh..."
Kaoru quieted down after a while, and he didn't let go. She smiled a little. /Now... will he let go..?/
Kenshin continued to stroke her back, even though she must have stopped crying 5 minutes ago. /I should stop.. she's done crying, and she probably doesn't like it that much... right?/ He pushed her away just enough to kiss her forehead. "I love you, Kaoru-dono.. but, if we were to get married - well, there would be a lot of problems."
Kaoru looked a little indignant, despite the shivers she got from being so close to Kenshin. "Like what?"
"Like.. well... for example, I'm having racy dreams about you. No matter how much I try to will myself to, I can't stop thinking about you in that manner. You- you're only seventeen, Kaoru-dono. You're immature sexually, mentally, and physically. Now, this isn't nessecarily a bad thing.. you need to be immature in order to mature. However, that would still create problems, in a marriage.. they wouldn't be your fault, but.."
Kaoru smiled a little. "Go on."
Kenshin gulped. "Also, since I'm so old, people might.. think badly about you. And no matter what, I would never, ever want that to happen to you."
Kaoru smiled. "Is that all?" Kenshin nodded. "Well... what are we going to do about Misao?"
Kenshin blinked. "Ah.. umm.. well, assuming that Aoshi does come back for me, Misao-dono will need to know about this whole thing before then.. so.. maybe tomorrow, I'll talk to her. OK?"
Kaoru nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They talked about various things of minor importance, until the night was very dark. Kaoru had managed to convince Kenshin to stop calling her '-dono', and Kenshin had apologized enough to satisfy himself. He put away all the dishes and cleared off the table, and then sat next to Kaoru. They eventually ran out of things to talk about, at which point Kaoru said, "Tonight was really nice, Kenshin. I'd love to do this again sometime."
Kenshin nodded absent-mindedly, looking at her. /Nnn.. Kami-sama, she's so beautiful.. why did I have to go and make her cry before? Man.. what a jerk../ Kaoru returned his look with confusion, until he suddenly wrapped himself around her and kissed her gently.
/Mmmhmmm.. this feels good... kami-sama, why can't he do this more often?/
/This sure feels good.. mmm.. I want it to last forever... but what will I do when I finally do stop..? I want.. I want this evening to be perfect for her.. perfect.. maybe.. maybe if I married her.. that would make her happy.. but- but I really don't deserve her.. mm? She stopped..?/ He gently broke the kiss.
"are.. are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Kenshin.. I was just.. a little short of breath.."
"i see.." He pulled her in close to him, and whispered gently in her ear. "Will you marry me, Kaoru?"
Kaoru whispered back, breathlessly. "Yes, I will."
Kenshin smiled The Smile. "I am happy, Kaoru-koishii."
Kaoru blushed. "As am I."
End of Chapter 8
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Author's Notes: YA! So much homework! O.o; I didn't get to write a lick over Turkey Day break, but I did manage another chapter. Don't worry everyone, I'll explain things like, 'where did the rest of Kenshin-gumi go?' and 'why did Kenshin propose all of a sudden?' in the next chapter.
Love you all! ^__^