**Thank you all again for your wonderful support! Through the 14 chapters,
I have been laying the foudation ^_^Now I finally have a plot! (a little
late? hehee...) Here's a new twist to the story, a mystery! Hope it's
enjoyable!**
Chapter 15 : All but a mystery
Kenshin woke up with a start, something in him sensed wrong somewhere. It was similar to the bad feeling he got the night before Saitoh arrived. But there was no visualisation, Kenshin hadn't a clue to what was amiss, just that something was definitely not right. 'I'll talk to Kaoru about this' he started to get up, when another voice told him not to. 'Sessha might get her worried again, and besides, it's the middle of the night now, sessha doesn't want to wake her up.' He cleared his mind and sat on the worn futon, provided by Rakuninmura's hospitable people. 'I'll let her know tomorrow morning.'
"Kenshin," her ever-familiar voice rang sweetly in his ears. "is breakfast ready yet?" Kaoru strolled into the kitchen, where he was long awake, alert and busy. Softly, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head sleepily on his back. "Ohayo, koishii."
"Ohayo Kaoru-dono." he replied with a smile she couldn't see, as well as a slight blush. "you don't seem to be awake yet, would you like some tea de gozaru ka?"
Kaoru giggled, she knew Kenshin would never forgo the suffix 'dono', but she also knew he loved her with or without it.
"That would be wonderful koishii." Kaoru released her hold and turned to face him, in surprise receiving a lovely peck on the cheek.
"You look beautiful..." Kenshin was momentarily mesmerized.
Their faces moved closer...
"Ah! What's cooking and smelling so good?? It must not be Jo-chan in the kitchen."
Their faces repelled instantly, even before touching.
Sano poked his head in and got a flying spoon in his direction. "NANI?" he growled, then saw the angry face of Kaoru, grabbing another object to throw, which happens to be a knife. "Opps! I didn't know you were here. Excuse me, I gotta...er...run."
"Baka Sano." she fumed, but instantaneously changed her expression at Kenshin's voice.
"Maa maa, Kaoru-dono, I don't think Sano mean it that way." The rurouni smile worked wonders all the time.
"Kenshin..." she looked longingly in his lilac eyes, and brought her face closer...
"Kaoru..."
"Where's the hot water? I need some hot water for Tsuba...MYSELF. Kenshin, do you know where's..."
Yahiko walked in and immediately halted at the entrance, his face feeling the scorching heat of a hot kettle just millimetres away.
"Here you go Yahiko-dono!" Kenshin's outstretched hand offered the kettle friendly, though not necessarily in a safe way.
"A...arigatou Kenshin." Yahiko took it carefully and turned around, still wondering if Kenshin was just being nice, or something else.
"Phew..." he blew a sigh of relief, thinking surely Yahiko would have noticed the red tint on his face. 'So close! so close!!' his mind screamed at him. "Kaoru-do..."
Just as Kenshin turned around, warm lips pressed against his, passionately yet soft and gentle. He closed widened eyes and pulled the face closer to his, an arm around her waist. Kaoru felt her knees go weak the moment Kenshin took lead and embraced her deeper, nibbling on her lip and entangling his tongue on hers. Her breath was short and little, on par with her furious beating heart. But Kenshin was smooth and skilled, his exhale a warm touch to her face. After what seemed to be forever, they pulled away, each trying to catch their breaths.
"Kenshin..." she whispered lovingly.
"Oro? My food is getting burnt!! Oh no!" he rushed to the tempura now turning a nice shade of black.
** "Please tell me where are we going!!" Misao laughed under her blindfold, and clutched his hand tighter. "We've been walking for ages!"
"Almost there! Almost there!" he said in a tone both joyful and mischievous too.
They walked to the end of gravel road and stopped, Soujiro adjusted her shoulders where she should face.
"Ok, can I take it off now?"
"Yes." he unwound the knots easily and slipped the cloth away from her eyes. "There."
Makimachi Misao gaped at what she saw, what she thought her eyes were lying to her. In front among the field of green tea leaves all around was, clearly written with beautiful and colourful flowers - "Happy Birthday Misao". Daisies, sunflowers, periwinkles, roses, and even some she knew are poisonous stood out in the green background, with assorted petals scattered all over as a neat border. The beauty took her breath away.
"I er...was pretty short of money, so er...since I saw this land was not occupied, so er..." he scratched the back of his head shyly, looking down at his feet. "Hope you like it."
No answer.
"Erm...the flowers were actually plucked along the way...of erm...near the next town...there are plenty of them there..."
Still no answer.
"I'm pretty short so I couldn't see the words clearly, so erm...sorry they are a little crooked."
Silence.
"Misao? Daijobu? I didn't mean for it to be so bad!" he stepped up from behind her to see her face, fresh tears flowing down her cheeks. "Ee! Misao, why are you crying? What's wrong? Are you allergic to flowers? Is it too many? Misao, daijobu?!!" Soujiro looked worriedly at her, biting his lower lip in apprehension.
"Soujiro no baka..." she said softly, but enough for him to hear. "these are tears of joy, haven't you had them before?"
He cocked his head to the side, and smiled a bright cheerful smile. "I'm glad you like it." Soujiro lowered to sit on the ground, and stared into space. "You scared me when you cried, I though something was upsetting you."
Misao shook her head and sat down next to him. "I was really surprised and happy, no one did something this special to me before."
"No one? All your Oniwabanshu friends?"
"I had to seek out the joy, read between the lines to get it's meaning." she looked up into the sky as he head rested on his shoulders. Soujiro barely flinched. "Aoshi-sama made me happy too, but I had to translate his little moves, it was never direct, never like this."
"Shininomori Aoshi, well, I think it's his nature to be erm...indirect with expressing his feelings. In the Juppongatana, it seemed he has a grudge with everyone, even Shishio-san."
"Soujiro, the WHOLE Japan has a grudge with Shishio."
"Oh?" he laughed. "I guess I almost forgotten that. We were all taught to fear him."
"Aoishi-sama doesn't care what others think of him, he just follows his own heart. He makes me overwhelm with gladness every time he was with me, or just say a word to me."
"Seems you are deeply in love with him." his shoulders tensed a little, but she didn't notice.
"I don't know. I always wonder why he couldn't do the one thing that would please me. I don't demand it but I want it so much, just once would be enough."
"What is it?" he turned to look at her.
She faced him. "What you give me all the time. A smile."
He gave her a blank look, which made her hurriedly turn her blushed face away. But Soujiro got up, and went to where she was facing. He put two fingers one on either side of his cheek and pushed it, as if pushing up a smile. "Don't I seem crazy if I look like this all the time?"
It worked, she laughed. "Or this?" Soujiro pushed his cheeks higher and showed his brilliant set of white teeth. Misao bowled over with laughter.
"No...no...this is better." she took his cheeks and pulled them hard!
"Ouch! I'll disfigure your face too!" he reached forward and they both started a small fight over face pulling, and ran around the field in laughers, under the bright morning sun, where the flowers shone in full glory. Lost of the world around them, the two pranced around till a voice called and broke their fantasy.
"So...Soujiro."
He looked up, and stopped running.
"Miko."
Miko walked down the carriage, ran down the gravel road into the green field and threw her arms around him.
**
The busy day at Rakuninmura were interrupted on a hot afternoon. Police guards walked into a place they would rather leave alone. This, after all, was an area in town ordinary people wish to avoid, after rumours about it just gets worse and worse. But this time the cops came in on official business, looking for Kaoru Kamiya.
"Busu! Someone's looking for you!" Yahiko shouted from the entrance, certified she could hear him, with added effects of his name-calling. She was bound to hear that.
"Baka! What do you want?" Kaoru emerged from the makeshift dojo she use to hold her kenjutsu lessons. Little Jine followed along closely behind her.
"Eh? Good afternoon." she dropped to a polite tone at the sight of the police. "How can I help you sirs?"
"Kaoru Kamiya?" a tall man, most likely the captain of the group approached her, with a sad look in his eyes. "I'm sorry to disturb you. I have some important news concerning your...home."
"What about it? What happened? Enishi-san should be guarding it."
Kenshin came over at the word of the dojo. He was around the area doing laundry, and the bad feeling he had earlier had become strong again.
"What's wrong minna-dono?"
"The dojo of Kamiya..." he started, his voice dropped lower. "is completely burned collapsed to the ground just this morning."
Kaoru kept silent and stared back in shock.
"NANI?" Yahiko asked, disbelief from his eavesdrop. "What did you say?"
"I'm sorry, I'm just here to inform you about it. We are investigating the cause of it."
Sanosuke roughly grabbed the policeman's collar, and shouted in his face. "What do you mean the cause of it? What's to investigate?!"
"The fire was not triggered by accident."
Everyone fell silent.
"It was deliberately caused."
Kaoru, who couldn't take the blow any longer, blacked out and fell limp.
Chapter 15 : All but a mystery
Kenshin woke up with a start, something in him sensed wrong somewhere. It was similar to the bad feeling he got the night before Saitoh arrived. But there was no visualisation, Kenshin hadn't a clue to what was amiss, just that something was definitely not right. 'I'll talk to Kaoru about this' he started to get up, when another voice told him not to. 'Sessha might get her worried again, and besides, it's the middle of the night now, sessha doesn't want to wake her up.' He cleared his mind and sat on the worn futon, provided by Rakuninmura's hospitable people. 'I'll let her know tomorrow morning.'
"Kenshin," her ever-familiar voice rang sweetly in his ears. "is breakfast ready yet?" Kaoru strolled into the kitchen, where he was long awake, alert and busy. Softly, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head sleepily on his back. "Ohayo, koishii."
"Ohayo Kaoru-dono." he replied with a smile she couldn't see, as well as a slight blush. "you don't seem to be awake yet, would you like some tea de gozaru ka?"
Kaoru giggled, she knew Kenshin would never forgo the suffix 'dono', but she also knew he loved her with or without it.
"That would be wonderful koishii." Kaoru released her hold and turned to face him, in surprise receiving a lovely peck on the cheek.
"You look beautiful..." Kenshin was momentarily mesmerized.
Their faces moved closer...
"Ah! What's cooking and smelling so good?? It must not be Jo-chan in the kitchen."
Their faces repelled instantly, even before touching.
Sano poked his head in and got a flying spoon in his direction. "NANI?" he growled, then saw the angry face of Kaoru, grabbing another object to throw, which happens to be a knife. "Opps! I didn't know you were here. Excuse me, I gotta...er...run."
"Baka Sano." she fumed, but instantaneously changed her expression at Kenshin's voice.
"Maa maa, Kaoru-dono, I don't think Sano mean it that way." The rurouni smile worked wonders all the time.
"Kenshin..." she looked longingly in his lilac eyes, and brought her face closer...
"Kaoru..."
"Where's the hot water? I need some hot water for Tsuba...MYSELF. Kenshin, do you know where's..."
Yahiko walked in and immediately halted at the entrance, his face feeling the scorching heat of a hot kettle just millimetres away.
"Here you go Yahiko-dono!" Kenshin's outstretched hand offered the kettle friendly, though not necessarily in a safe way.
"A...arigatou Kenshin." Yahiko took it carefully and turned around, still wondering if Kenshin was just being nice, or something else.
"Phew..." he blew a sigh of relief, thinking surely Yahiko would have noticed the red tint on his face. 'So close! so close!!' his mind screamed at him. "Kaoru-do..."
Just as Kenshin turned around, warm lips pressed against his, passionately yet soft and gentle. He closed widened eyes and pulled the face closer to his, an arm around her waist. Kaoru felt her knees go weak the moment Kenshin took lead and embraced her deeper, nibbling on her lip and entangling his tongue on hers. Her breath was short and little, on par with her furious beating heart. But Kenshin was smooth and skilled, his exhale a warm touch to her face. After what seemed to be forever, they pulled away, each trying to catch their breaths.
"Kenshin..." she whispered lovingly.
"Oro? My food is getting burnt!! Oh no!" he rushed to the tempura now turning a nice shade of black.
** "Please tell me where are we going!!" Misao laughed under her blindfold, and clutched his hand tighter. "We've been walking for ages!"
"Almost there! Almost there!" he said in a tone both joyful and mischievous too.
They walked to the end of gravel road and stopped, Soujiro adjusted her shoulders where she should face.
"Ok, can I take it off now?"
"Yes." he unwound the knots easily and slipped the cloth away from her eyes. "There."
Makimachi Misao gaped at what she saw, what she thought her eyes were lying to her. In front among the field of green tea leaves all around was, clearly written with beautiful and colourful flowers - "Happy Birthday Misao". Daisies, sunflowers, periwinkles, roses, and even some she knew are poisonous stood out in the green background, with assorted petals scattered all over as a neat border. The beauty took her breath away.
"I er...was pretty short of money, so er...since I saw this land was not occupied, so er..." he scratched the back of his head shyly, looking down at his feet. "Hope you like it."
No answer.
"Erm...the flowers were actually plucked along the way...of erm...near the next town...there are plenty of them there..."
Still no answer.
"I'm pretty short so I couldn't see the words clearly, so erm...sorry they are a little crooked."
Silence.
"Misao? Daijobu? I didn't mean for it to be so bad!" he stepped up from behind her to see her face, fresh tears flowing down her cheeks. "Ee! Misao, why are you crying? What's wrong? Are you allergic to flowers? Is it too many? Misao, daijobu?!!" Soujiro looked worriedly at her, biting his lower lip in apprehension.
"Soujiro no baka..." she said softly, but enough for him to hear. "these are tears of joy, haven't you had them before?"
He cocked his head to the side, and smiled a bright cheerful smile. "I'm glad you like it." Soujiro lowered to sit on the ground, and stared into space. "You scared me when you cried, I though something was upsetting you."
Misao shook her head and sat down next to him. "I was really surprised and happy, no one did something this special to me before."
"No one? All your Oniwabanshu friends?"
"I had to seek out the joy, read between the lines to get it's meaning." she looked up into the sky as he head rested on his shoulders. Soujiro barely flinched. "Aoshi-sama made me happy too, but I had to translate his little moves, it was never direct, never like this."
"Shininomori Aoshi, well, I think it's his nature to be erm...indirect with expressing his feelings. In the Juppongatana, it seemed he has a grudge with everyone, even Shishio-san."
"Soujiro, the WHOLE Japan has a grudge with Shishio."
"Oh?" he laughed. "I guess I almost forgotten that. We were all taught to fear him."
"Aoishi-sama doesn't care what others think of him, he just follows his own heart. He makes me overwhelm with gladness every time he was with me, or just say a word to me."
"Seems you are deeply in love with him." his shoulders tensed a little, but she didn't notice.
"I don't know. I always wonder why he couldn't do the one thing that would please me. I don't demand it but I want it so much, just once would be enough."
"What is it?" he turned to look at her.
She faced him. "What you give me all the time. A smile."
He gave her a blank look, which made her hurriedly turn her blushed face away. But Soujiro got up, and went to where she was facing. He put two fingers one on either side of his cheek and pushed it, as if pushing up a smile. "Don't I seem crazy if I look like this all the time?"
It worked, she laughed. "Or this?" Soujiro pushed his cheeks higher and showed his brilliant set of white teeth. Misao bowled over with laughter.
"No...no...this is better." she took his cheeks and pulled them hard!
"Ouch! I'll disfigure your face too!" he reached forward and they both started a small fight over face pulling, and ran around the field in laughers, under the bright morning sun, where the flowers shone in full glory. Lost of the world around them, the two pranced around till a voice called and broke their fantasy.
"So...Soujiro."
He looked up, and stopped running.
"Miko."
Miko walked down the carriage, ran down the gravel road into the green field and threw her arms around him.
**
The busy day at Rakuninmura were interrupted on a hot afternoon. Police guards walked into a place they would rather leave alone. This, after all, was an area in town ordinary people wish to avoid, after rumours about it just gets worse and worse. But this time the cops came in on official business, looking for Kaoru Kamiya.
"Busu! Someone's looking for you!" Yahiko shouted from the entrance, certified she could hear him, with added effects of his name-calling. She was bound to hear that.
"Baka! What do you want?" Kaoru emerged from the makeshift dojo she use to hold her kenjutsu lessons. Little Jine followed along closely behind her.
"Eh? Good afternoon." she dropped to a polite tone at the sight of the police. "How can I help you sirs?"
"Kaoru Kamiya?" a tall man, most likely the captain of the group approached her, with a sad look in his eyes. "I'm sorry to disturb you. I have some important news concerning your...home."
"What about it? What happened? Enishi-san should be guarding it."
Kenshin came over at the word of the dojo. He was around the area doing laundry, and the bad feeling he had earlier had become strong again.
"What's wrong minna-dono?"
"The dojo of Kamiya..." he started, his voice dropped lower. "is completely burned collapsed to the ground just this morning."
Kaoru kept silent and stared back in shock.
"NANI?" Yahiko asked, disbelief from his eavesdrop. "What did you say?"
"I'm sorry, I'm just here to inform you about it. We are investigating the cause of it."
Sanosuke roughly grabbed the policeman's collar, and shouted in his face. "What do you mean the cause of it? What's to investigate?!"
"The fire was not triggered by accident."
Everyone fell silent.
"It was deliberately caused."
Kaoru, who couldn't take the blow any longer, blacked out and fell limp.