Author's Note: ~*IMPORTANT*~ Yes, I'll write this each time until someone
gives me an answer: how do you get the "dot dot dots" and italics to show
up?! Please help me if you know! I'm so sorry! I couldn't log in
fanfiction.net last night or today, so I had to wait until tonight to post
this. And just to warn you, it's not very well written.
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, but you know how much I want to!
The Love of Life
Chapter 12: Healed By Her Hands
By CrismHeart
September 26, 2003
Kenshin was rudely awakened by a piercing yell, "Hentai!"
He instantly identified the voice as Kaoru's, "Oro?! Who? Where? I will not allow anyone to lay a hand on Kaoru-dono, that I will not." Kenshin thought as his eyes shot open. He intently scanned the room for the one who had committed the unforgivable crime.
Just then, Kaoru's fist met Kenshin's face and he was again "oro- ing," only this time it was aloud. When his eyes stopped swirling, Kenshin saw a red-faced Kaoru glowering at him. "What have I done?" Kenshin questioned himself.
Kenshin looked down and saw that his arms had been locked firmly around her. As to how this could have happened, he had no idea.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tae had heard of Kenshin being treated at the clinic and set out to find what had come to pass. It just would not do if the two people who were destined to be together lost that chance even before they expressed their feelings for each other. She was determined to see Kaoru happy, and would make sure she was if it was the last thing she did.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Megumi had been preparing breakfast, but heard Kaoru's shouts and worried that perhaps Kenshin's condition had somehow gotten worse. She dropped the cooking utensils she had been holding and hurried to the room.
When she did get there, Megumi found Kenshin sprawled on the floor. "Kaoru!" Megumi reprimanded her younger cousin, "Calm down, you are not supposed to kill the patient! And last night you were so depressed because you thought he was going to die!"
After Megumi examined Kenshin and re-bandaged some of his cuts, she left the room to finish making the food. Luckily, she had not begun cooking before or the meal would have been ruined by this time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaoru seemed to have noticed that she had hurt Kenshin pretty badly. His cheek was beginning to form a bruise where she had punched him and his back was sore from landing on it.
"Gomen ne, Kenshin. I guess I wasn't thinking." Kaoru spoke, guilt evident in her voice. Perhaps she should have let him defend himself. How she had ever imagined that Kenshin was both the perfect gentleman and a totally perverted jerk at the same time was beyond her.
"But you liked him holding you, didn't you?" her mind taunted her. Kaoru shook her head fiercely to rid herself of her dirty thoughts, "No, no, no!"
Kaoru was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she almost had forgotten that Kenshin was still on the ground. When she came to her senses, she held out her hand to him to help him back into bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kenshin had seen that Kaoru was really disappointed in herself for acting so rashly. And though he did take her hand, what Kenshin really wanted to do was to tell her she not to put the blame on herself.
When he settled himself onto the bed, Kenshin explained to her how he had woken up in the middle of the night and discovered her sleeping in the chair. He had not wanted her to be uncomfortable so he had moved her to the bed. However, Kenshin could not figure out how or when they had gotten into that position. "It was my fault, Kaoru-dono." Kenshin said as he summed up his story.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kenshin's words appeared to have had the opposite of his desired effect on Kaoru. If possible, Kaoru looked even more troubled by his news. She began remembering remnants of what had occurred the night before. Kaoru must have been too worn-out to take it in earlier.
During the night, Kaoru had been felt a gust of cool air pass through the window and had pulled Kenshin's arms around her, it had not been the other way around. She blushed as she realized her mistake. At least Kaoru had not known it was Kenshin then, right? After all, she had not done it consciously.
Kaoru was too embarrassed to tell him anything. She turned away from Kenshin so that he would not be able to see her uneasiness.
Kenshin mistook her action for anger at him and tugged at her hand. Kaoru had not expected this, lost her balance, and fell backward. Instinctively, she squeezed her eyes shut and waited for her to plummet to the floor, but the descent never came. Kenshin had caught her.
As the astonishment wore off, Kaoru was reminded of how it felt to be so close to him. She saw him lower his head and his lips draw nearer. Kaoru was confused, was Kenshin going to kiss her? Of course, Kaoru wanted him too, but she had never had her first kiss and didn't know what to do. Kaoru suddenly became extremely nervous.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tae had arrived at the doorway of Kenshin's room just in time to see the two of them staring into each other's eyes. "How sweet!" she squealed to herself. She watched as Kenshin and Kaoru faces became millimeters apart from each other.
"Baka deshi!" The gruff voice interrupted the scene that had been unfolding before Tae's eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Unfortunately for Kenshin, Kaoru, and Tae, the tall, proud man with an ego he size of his sake addiction appeared from behind Tae and walked into the room.
At first, Kenshin's eyes widened in wonder. Perhaps he was delusional. What was Hiko doing here? Had his shishou truly forgiven him?
Kenshin gaped at Hiko, still in shock that he was really there. His face then shone with the swirl of emotions he was feeling at the moment: awe, respect, and joy. Kenshin had not seen Hiko since he had left to work for the government, three whole years! He knew that his shishou had never approved of him having done so. In his heart, Kenshin knew that he never should have either.
"Shishou!" Kenshin cried as he leapt into Hiko's awaiting arms.
Or so Kenshin had thought. Hiko's eyes narrowed in dismay and he swiftly took a step to the left. Kenshin, in his haste, had not assessed the matter carefully, and collided head first into the wall directly behind his master.
In a flash, Hiko was back in the spot he had been previously standing.
Hiko glanced at Kenshin whose body was lying crumpled on the ground as he bluntly stated, "I'm not someone who enjoys being hugged by other guys. Don't jump at me like that."
Inwardly, however, Hiko was relieved that his "baka deshi" was safe.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tae was furious with the mysterious man who dared to stand in the way of Kenshin and Kaoru's relationship. Ignoring the fact that Hiko was the master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, she pulled a frying pan out of thin air and whacked him hard on the head. Hiko stood seemingly unfazed, but then started to laugh heartily. He could see that that woman was different than the ones that usually fawned over him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So close, they were so close! Can't you see that they were about to kiss? Well, I guess it's up to me to make the difference." Tae thought to herself as she deviously concocted another plan to get the two lovebirds together.
Meanwhile, Kenshin and Kaoru were thinking the same thing.
________________________________________________________________________
Author's Note: I may have had an excessive amount of sugar today, but even now I'm still upset at not getting many reviews for the last chapter. *sobs* Please leave a review! They mean more to me than you'll ever know. Do you really want me to beg for them?
CurlsofSerenity: I'd rather not say that I'm evil, but I won't deny it either. Lots of people (my friends) have told me so anyways, but I really hadn't meant for that to be a cliffhanger, really!
Tsugoi Kakarlena: Thank you! It gives me lots of encouragement to hear that you want to read more!
Kitsune KeNsHiN: I can't get over how nice you are! And, I never thought people did read my "author's notes" or my bio, so thank you for doing so. Right you are, it is Mulan! I loved that movie too. It's great to hear tips from you! I'll think about it, but it will be hard for me to have so many couples. Maybe I can make it work. I wasn't going write about my future fan fic idea until my last chapter, but I guess I should start to promote now that you brought it up! My trip wasn't much fun; we mostly studied things relating to biology the whole time. Plus, we had to hike downward a slope that was so steep that it was almost directly on top of a stream (hundreds of feet to the bottom and I have a huge fear of heights!), but thanks for the thought! That was one long response, wasn't it?
Scarlet Rayne: Yeah, Kenshin is sweet, isn't he? *sighs dreamily* I hope you continue reading!
tintin-chan: I do agree with you on lots of things concerning this story. You're more right than I should tell you. They should kiss, shouldn't they? I want to tell you something really badly, but if I do, I'd ruin the ending, so never mind (like you can't figure it out right now). Well, read and review anyways! You don't know how much you made me smile when I saw your review. Of course Kaoru was enjoying it, who wouldn't? (*whispers* She's just in denial.)
Mercses: You always have to review at the worst possible times right before I update, you know that? Your reviews never used to be so dramatic. And so far you've called me Em, Emi-chan, and Evelyn. What will I be next?
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, but you know how much I want to!
The Love of Life
Chapter 12: Healed By Her Hands
By CrismHeart
September 26, 2003
Kenshin was rudely awakened by a piercing yell, "Hentai!"
He instantly identified the voice as Kaoru's, "Oro?! Who? Where? I will not allow anyone to lay a hand on Kaoru-dono, that I will not." Kenshin thought as his eyes shot open. He intently scanned the room for the one who had committed the unforgivable crime.
Just then, Kaoru's fist met Kenshin's face and he was again "oro- ing," only this time it was aloud. When his eyes stopped swirling, Kenshin saw a red-faced Kaoru glowering at him. "What have I done?" Kenshin questioned himself.
Kenshin looked down and saw that his arms had been locked firmly around her. As to how this could have happened, he had no idea.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tae had heard of Kenshin being treated at the clinic and set out to find what had come to pass. It just would not do if the two people who were destined to be together lost that chance even before they expressed their feelings for each other. She was determined to see Kaoru happy, and would make sure she was if it was the last thing she did.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Megumi had been preparing breakfast, but heard Kaoru's shouts and worried that perhaps Kenshin's condition had somehow gotten worse. She dropped the cooking utensils she had been holding and hurried to the room.
When she did get there, Megumi found Kenshin sprawled on the floor. "Kaoru!" Megumi reprimanded her younger cousin, "Calm down, you are not supposed to kill the patient! And last night you were so depressed because you thought he was going to die!"
After Megumi examined Kenshin and re-bandaged some of his cuts, she left the room to finish making the food. Luckily, she had not begun cooking before or the meal would have been ruined by this time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaoru seemed to have noticed that she had hurt Kenshin pretty badly. His cheek was beginning to form a bruise where she had punched him and his back was sore from landing on it.
"Gomen ne, Kenshin. I guess I wasn't thinking." Kaoru spoke, guilt evident in her voice. Perhaps she should have let him defend himself. How she had ever imagined that Kenshin was both the perfect gentleman and a totally perverted jerk at the same time was beyond her.
"But you liked him holding you, didn't you?" her mind taunted her. Kaoru shook her head fiercely to rid herself of her dirty thoughts, "No, no, no!"
Kaoru was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she almost had forgotten that Kenshin was still on the ground. When she came to her senses, she held out her hand to him to help him back into bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kenshin had seen that Kaoru was really disappointed in herself for acting so rashly. And though he did take her hand, what Kenshin really wanted to do was to tell her she not to put the blame on herself.
When he settled himself onto the bed, Kenshin explained to her how he had woken up in the middle of the night and discovered her sleeping in the chair. He had not wanted her to be uncomfortable so he had moved her to the bed. However, Kenshin could not figure out how or when they had gotten into that position. "It was my fault, Kaoru-dono." Kenshin said as he summed up his story.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kenshin's words appeared to have had the opposite of his desired effect on Kaoru. If possible, Kaoru looked even more troubled by his news. She began remembering remnants of what had occurred the night before. Kaoru must have been too worn-out to take it in earlier.
During the night, Kaoru had been felt a gust of cool air pass through the window and had pulled Kenshin's arms around her, it had not been the other way around. She blushed as she realized her mistake. At least Kaoru had not known it was Kenshin then, right? After all, she had not done it consciously.
Kaoru was too embarrassed to tell him anything. She turned away from Kenshin so that he would not be able to see her uneasiness.
Kenshin mistook her action for anger at him and tugged at her hand. Kaoru had not expected this, lost her balance, and fell backward. Instinctively, she squeezed her eyes shut and waited for her to plummet to the floor, but the descent never came. Kenshin had caught her.
As the astonishment wore off, Kaoru was reminded of how it felt to be so close to him. She saw him lower his head and his lips draw nearer. Kaoru was confused, was Kenshin going to kiss her? Of course, Kaoru wanted him too, but she had never had her first kiss and didn't know what to do. Kaoru suddenly became extremely nervous.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tae had arrived at the doorway of Kenshin's room just in time to see the two of them staring into each other's eyes. "How sweet!" she squealed to herself. She watched as Kenshin and Kaoru faces became millimeters apart from each other.
"Baka deshi!" The gruff voice interrupted the scene that had been unfolding before Tae's eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Unfortunately for Kenshin, Kaoru, and Tae, the tall, proud man with an ego he size of his sake addiction appeared from behind Tae and walked into the room.
At first, Kenshin's eyes widened in wonder. Perhaps he was delusional. What was Hiko doing here? Had his shishou truly forgiven him?
Kenshin gaped at Hiko, still in shock that he was really there. His face then shone with the swirl of emotions he was feeling at the moment: awe, respect, and joy. Kenshin had not seen Hiko since he had left to work for the government, three whole years! He knew that his shishou had never approved of him having done so. In his heart, Kenshin knew that he never should have either.
"Shishou!" Kenshin cried as he leapt into Hiko's awaiting arms.
Or so Kenshin had thought. Hiko's eyes narrowed in dismay and he swiftly took a step to the left. Kenshin, in his haste, had not assessed the matter carefully, and collided head first into the wall directly behind his master.
In a flash, Hiko was back in the spot he had been previously standing.
Hiko glanced at Kenshin whose body was lying crumpled on the ground as he bluntly stated, "I'm not someone who enjoys being hugged by other guys. Don't jump at me like that."
Inwardly, however, Hiko was relieved that his "baka deshi" was safe.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tae was furious with the mysterious man who dared to stand in the way of Kenshin and Kaoru's relationship. Ignoring the fact that Hiko was the master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, she pulled a frying pan out of thin air and whacked him hard on the head. Hiko stood seemingly unfazed, but then started to laugh heartily. He could see that that woman was different than the ones that usually fawned over him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So close, they were so close! Can't you see that they were about to kiss? Well, I guess it's up to me to make the difference." Tae thought to herself as she deviously concocted another plan to get the two lovebirds together.
Meanwhile, Kenshin and Kaoru were thinking the same thing.
________________________________________________________________________
Author's Note: I may have had an excessive amount of sugar today, but even now I'm still upset at not getting many reviews for the last chapter. *sobs* Please leave a review! They mean more to me than you'll ever know. Do you really want me to beg for them?
CurlsofSerenity: I'd rather not say that I'm evil, but I won't deny it either. Lots of people (my friends) have told me so anyways, but I really hadn't meant for that to be a cliffhanger, really!
Tsugoi Kakarlena: Thank you! It gives me lots of encouragement to hear that you want to read more!
Kitsune KeNsHiN: I can't get over how nice you are! And, I never thought people did read my "author's notes" or my bio, so thank you for doing so. Right you are, it is Mulan! I loved that movie too. It's great to hear tips from you! I'll think about it, but it will be hard for me to have so many couples. Maybe I can make it work. I wasn't going write about my future fan fic idea until my last chapter, but I guess I should start to promote now that you brought it up! My trip wasn't much fun; we mostly studied things relating to biology the whole time. Plus, we had to hike downward a slope that was so steep that it was almost directly on top of a stream (hundreds of feet to the bottom and I have a huge fear of heights!), but thanks for the thought! That was one long response, wasn't it?
Scarlet Rayne: Yeah, Kenshin is sweet, isn't he? *sighs dreamily* I hope you continue reading!
tintin-chan: I do agree with you on lots of things concerning this story. You're more right than I should tell you. They should kiss, shouldn't they? I want to tell you something really badly, but if I do, I'd ruin the ending, so never mind (like you can't figure it out right now). Well, read and review anyways! You don't know how much you made me smile when I saw your review. Of course Kaoru was enjoying it, who wouldn't? (*whispers* She's just in denial.)
Mercses: You always have to review at the worst possible times right before I update, you know that? Your reviews never used to be so dramatic. And so far you've called me Em, Emi-chan, and Evelyn. What will I be next?