T.Anjel: Hehe.took a little while to get this chapter out, but it's here. Thanks to everyone who left a review! MwaH! I love ya'll. And thanks to XenoMark and Kasumi-san for editing and whatnot.

Standard Disclaimers Apply

To Love the Hated - Chapter 11

"Are you sure you can work, Kaoru?" Yahiko asked worriedly, sweeping up piles of ash along the kitchen floor.

"Daijobu!" Kaoru reassured. "Just get cleaning."

After a fair breakfast at the Akabeko, Kaoru, Yutaro and Yahiko went back to the dojo to clean up the kitchen and restore it to the best of their abilities. It was a horrible, dirty mess to clean up where layers of ash covered the floor and the walls were streaked with black.

"What do you want me to do with this, Kaoru-san?" Yutaro asked, lifting a half-burnt cutting board.

"Throw it out," Kaoru replied and resumed with cleaning up the floor. She felt weary and worn-out from the morning events, but she kept herself on her feet and sweeping.

"Kaoru-san! You don't look to well. Are you sure you're okay?" Yutaro asked, noticing Kaoru slightly stumble as she swept a small pile of ashes into a bag.

"I'm fine," Kaoru mumbled, beginning to feel a weird sensation of the floor spinning underneath her feet. The kitchen began to blur into a haze, and Kaoru suddenly thought her head weighed too much for her neck to hold up. She tripped over her feet and felt herself fall slowly towards the ground.

"Kaoru!" Kaoru heard Yahiko yell, but it her name seemed muddled and unclear to her ears.

Kaoru dazedly braced herself for a hard, uncomfortable fall but didn't feel anything. "Ara?" She mumbled to herself, not able to fully comprehend with her clouded brain what had softened her fall. She only saw a haze of brown kitchen walls and a few blurs of other colors she didn't seem to be able to recognize.

"Who." Kaoru attempted to say, but only found her words to sound like "mu". She heard someone talking to her, but didn't understand. "I'm tired," Kaoru heard herself whisper, but wondered if the kids understood before drifting off into an exhausted sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kaoru woke up that night. She found herself laying in her futon dressed sloppily in her sleeping yukata. She didn't even want to know who dared change her while she was totally out of it. After stretching her stiff muscles, Kaoru tightened her yukata and slid open her shoji. "Kenshin?" Kaoru said in surprise, noticing a slumped figure sitting next to her door.

Kenshin looked up and smiled. "You're awake, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you," Kaoru answered. "But.what are you doing here?" She covered her mouth immediately with her hands, noticing how rude she sounded. "I didn't mean."

"I dropped Mei-dono at the carriage," Kenshin said, cutting her apology off. "And I knew you weren't feeling at your best and that the kitchen was a mess, so I came right back and caught you just as you fell."

"Ah." was Kaoru's only reply.

Kenshin patted the space next to him, signaling for Kaoru to sit down. She did so, propping herself up against the wall.

"I can't believe I slept for this long," Kaoru murmured.

"It was probably the best for you," Kenshin commented. "Yahiko, Yutaro and I taught the your class today.mostly on some basic defense, and we cleaned up the majority of the kitchen. What's left is most of the repairs and damage done, but I'll make sure to get it fixed for you."

"You don't have to."

"But I will."

Kaoru smiled, a strange force tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Ariagto, Kenshin."

"It wasn't a problem," Kenshin replied quietly.

"Where are Yutaro and Yahiko?" Kaoru asked after a while.

"Yutaro went home, and Yahiko decided to stay overnight in one of the guest rooms," Kenshin replied.

"Why aren't you asleep?"

"I wasn't sleepy."

A quiet silence commenced, only the sound of crickets chirping filling the space. Kaoru leaned her head back and closed her eyes, feeling a cool breeze tickle her face. She enjoyed the compatible silence she shared with Kenshin. She watched him from the corner of her eye stare aimlessly at the sky filtered with stars and a full moon.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Kaoru asked quietly as not to disturb the stars' peace.

"Aa.it is," Kenshin replied.

"My father would always tell me that the stars were the souls of my ancestors and that I could talk to them whenever I felt alone or scared," Kaoru said with a smile. "I've been doing a lot of that lately," Kaoru added under her breath, not knowing that Kenshin heard.

"And where is your father now?" Kenshin asked, hoping it wasn't too much of an inappropriate question.

"He's watching me from there," Kaoru answered, pointing at the sky.

"I'm sorry," Kenshin said.

Kaoru shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry about.unless you're the one who killed him."

Kenshin longed to ask who murdered Kaoru's father to seek revenge for Kaoru's unhappiness, but held his tongue.

"You can ask," Kaoru said with a small smile. "It won't bother me to tell you."

"What are you talking about?" Kenshin asked foolishly.

"You know very well what I'm talking about," Kaoru said with huff.

Kenshin stayed silent.

"My parents died when I seven," Kaoru said. "I don't remember much of what happened, but I remember all too clearly who killed my father." Kaoru paused, watching a small star comfort her rising memories. "He was the ugliest prince I've ever seen, shattering my dreams of a charming prince on a white horse. He was old with oily hair and mustache.I remember he smelled of old sake and smoke. He killed my father for a reason I was not informed of because of my youth.

"My mother died days later. She was already ill, and my father's death caused her depression. I moved here with a good friend of my father's who was a swordsman too. He taught me his style and I continued to practice the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. Shoho-san died three years ago, and I took over his dojo." Kaoru had her chin propped up against her folded knees and couldn't help let her tears fall down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, hastily wiping her tears from her face. "Who am I to tell you about my stupid life story. You never asked."

Kaoru was responded with a tight hug. "I'm glad you told me, Kaoru- dono," Kenshin whispered into her ear. "Let the tears you held for years fall."

Kaoru buried her head in the crook of Kenshin's neck and did as she was told. She heard her mother's voice ring in her ears; the last words her mother ever spoke: "Stay strong, Kaoru-chan. Never live your life in vain as I have mine, ne?"

"Crying doesn't make one weak, Kaoru-dono. If anything, it makes one stronger," Kenshin said, rubbing Kaoru's trembling back.

She would've believed that Kenshin could read minds if she hadn't noticed that she whispered the words out loud. Her tears trickled from her eyes, down her face and wetting Kenshin's neck.

Kenshin held Kaoru in his arms until he was sure she was calm and stopped crying. Reluctantly, he let go.

"I feel so foolish," Kaoru whispered, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes.

"Well, you're not," Kenshin argued.

Kaoru pouted and leaned back against the wall. After a short pause, she said, "I haven't told anyone about my parents before.and I'm glad I told you, Kenshin."

"Aa.thank you."

"For what?"

"Trusting me," Kenshin replied. "For being able to talk to me."

"You're easy to open up to," Kaoru said quickly, feeling blood rush to her face as she did so.

"Many think I'm not."

"Stop being modest," Kaoru teased.

"I'm not!"

"Che," Kaoru said with a smirk. "Shouldn't you get back to the palace? People will begin to worry."

"I assure you, they won't," Kenshin replied in a mock tone. Kaoru rolled her eyes. "What do you think Mei will do once she's conscious again?"

Kenshin shrugged. "After humiliating herself here, I would rightfully think that she would run off without a word."

Kaoru laughed, but quickly covered it as not to wake up Yahiko. "Poor thing." And she tsked. "So now who are you going to wed?"

"Are you implying that I was going to marry Mei-dono from the start?" Kenshin inquired with a visible twitch in his left eye.

"Well, who else were you going to marry?" Kaoru asked.

"I wanted to marry someone.but she's out of my reach," Kenshin replied casually.

Kaoru felt her heart tighten at the mention of another girl, but bit her lower lip and smiled. "Wanted? Not want?"

"Well.I thought if I did the right things, I would have a slight chance with her. But I know that it won't happen any day soon. Her heart is too far and free, and I would only ruin her life if I were to keep her in a palace to sit and sip tea," Kenshin replied softly, staring straight at Kaoru as he did so.

Kaoru thanked the gods for sending a cool breeze in her direction as she felt a hot blush rise on her cheeks. "You know.Kenshin, you should tell her even if she's going to slap you back in the face," Kaoru said truthfully, totally oblivious to the fact that the woman Kenshin spoke was herself.

"That's harsh, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said with a wince at the vision of Kaoru smacking him in the face.

"There will always be the possibility that she won't turn you down, you know," Kaoru said, waggling her finger at him. "You've got to take the chance."

Kenshin smiled but shook his head in reply. "I would, but if I take recent events into account, I think I would only be hurting her than anything."

"Mou! You're such a pessimist! Who wouldn't want to marry you?" Kaoru asked. "You're a total gentleman!"

Kenshin chuckled and lightly shook his head again. "Thank you for your support, Kaoru-dono."

"Anytime," Kaoru said. "So you're really not going to ask her, are you?" Kenshin shook his head. "No matter how I think about it, I don't think it will do her any good. I'm being too selfish."

"Give me a break, Kenshin," Kaoru said, laughing and smacking Kenshin at the same time as she did. "There's no way you would be selfish in any way."

"No matter how I look at it, I think I'm being as selfish as anybody else," Kenshin argued, rubbing the sore spot on his head Kaoru just hit.

"You're so stubborn," Kaoru said, pouting and folding her arms.

"Not as much as you," Kenshin replied.

"Mou! Kenshin!" Kaoru yelled, but low enough as not to wake the sleeping Yahiko.

Kenshin only laughed in response. "You should stop by the palace sometime, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said after Kaoru decided to stop yelling and throttling his poor neck.

"Why?" Kaoru challenged.

"You have friends there you miss you," Kenshin said. "Misao-dono.Tae- dono.Sae-dono.Genzai-sensei.Sanosuke.Megumi-dono."

"Megumi?" Kaoru interrupted.

Kenshin nodded. "You two had your own share of bickers and fights, ne?"

Kaoru couldn't help laugh at remembering the egotistical, sly woman. "We'll see.if I have time after I fix up the kitchen, I'll see if I can go back to the palace."

Kenshin nodded in approval and stood up to stretch. "You should get back to sleep, Kaoru-dono."

Kaoru nodded. "Are you staying overnight?" Kaoru asked.

"No, I've got to get back," Kenshin replied. "I'll come to get Yahiko some other time, probably in a couple of days. I hope he's not a bother."

"Of course not!" Kaoru said. "You should get back and sleep then."

Kenshin nodded. "Aa.I will. Oyasumi-nasai, Kaoru-dono."

"Oyasumi," Kaoru replied after walking him to the dojo door and greeting him out. She gave a contented sigh and had another round of a deep, peaceful slumber. ~*~*~*~*~*~

Kenshin walked back to through the quiet town, hearing only the muted crunching of sand and dirt underneath his shoes. As he walked down the deserted road, Kenshin let out a soft sigh, thinking. He was arguing with himself about the events of the near future; to be specific, one particular event plagued his mind. His eyes changed rapidly from a violet to amber, but no one would've noticed it in the dark.

Finally, at arriving to his carriage, Kenshin made one clear decision: "I will not ask Kaoru-dono to wed me."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~ T.Anjel: What a way to end it, Kenshin! Isn't it great?! ::unskillfully tries to dodge rotten vegetables:: And who knows how long it'll take for me to get out the next chapter? Hehe.bye!