Left Behind
Disclaimer! Rurouni Kenshin doesn't belong to me, but to Nobuhiro Watsuki. Darn, maybe some day ^_^x
I'm soooooooooo sorry for not updating in forever!! I've just been really busy, but thankfully this week has been a little easier on me and I had time to write up a chapter! hope ya like. . .
Left Behind-Chapter 5: End One Relationship; Start Another
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I was on a plane, flying to Kyoto. Of course, I could have driven, but driving for hours didn't seem like a good idea. The flight was supposed to be no more than an hour, [1] so I opened up the book I was reading and attempted to keep my mind off the upcoming wedding.
The plane ride went relatively smoothly and when I exited I saw a familiar patch of flame-red hair coming towards me.
"Kaoru-dono!"
"Kenshin!" I ran over to him and hugged the life out of him, to be honest, I felt like Misao; she hugs way too hard.
"Kaoru-dono, please . . . let go a little . . . I can't breathe." he managed to wheeze out. After I let go of him, he turned and gestured to a young woman behind him. "Kaoru-dono, meet Yukishiro Tomoe, my fiance."
She was strikingly beautiful. Her skin was pale as white jade and her eyes were dark and haunting. She bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kaoru-san; Kenshin has told me much about you."
I bowed as well. "No, Tomoe-san, the pleasure is all mine. I must congratulate the lucky woman who Kenshin as chosen for his wife. The majority of female student body pined after him in high school, you know."
"Don't remind me. . ." I heard Kenshin mutter. "Kaoru-dono, Tomoe and I will drive you to your hotel, if you're up to it, would you like to have dinner with us?"
Did I want to have dinner with them? I didn't know, but found myself nodding anyway.
After checking in and dropping my things off, Kenshin brought us to a small restaurant. The evening consisted of small talk and embarrassing Kenshin.
Tomoe seemed like an extremely reserved person, but tales of her fiance's childhood antics was enough to get a few small laughs out of her.
Dinner was coming to a close. Kenshin excused himself to go to the bathroom. I stared at his retreating figure for a moment before reverting my attention back to Tomoe.
We were both silent for a moment before she spoke up. "You love him, do you not?" I briefly wondered how she could tell, but perhaps it was best not to ask.
"I know" I replied slowly. "It's hard to say when I started to see him as more than a best friend." I paused for a moment. "You know, Tomoe-san, you and I: we are not so different. Afterall, we love the same man, you were just the one to act on your feelings"
"I must agree, Kaoru-san," she said, "but that has made all the difference.
Sadly, I had to agree as well, it had made all the difference. Becuase, if I had told him of my feelings, I might have been in Tomoe's place.
Kenshin soon returned, he obviously didn't notice the tension in the space around us. "So, Kaoru-dono, are you up for something else? coffee, maybe?"
I shook my head; had no desire to be in Tomoe's company "No thanks, Kenshin, I'm a little tired."
That night I wondered if I should still go to the wedding. I knew what decision I was going to make, but I still thought about it anyway.
It's not like I didn't like Tomoe; I didn't know her at all and therefore, couldn't make a good claim as to whether or not I liked her. I didn't think that she wouldn't be a good wife; Kenshin would have though she would be a good wife for him to propose to her. The only objection I had was that it was Tomoe he chose, and not myself.
But it would hurt Kenshin to no bounds if I went to dinner with him and not to his wedding, so I would go and subject myself to torture.
I usually remember everything with precision, but the day was such a blur. I vaguely remember getting ready, taking a cab to the church. the exchange of vows, mostly bits and pieces. And when it was all over, I quickly said my goodbyes and rushed home.
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"Kaoru!" You're back already!" Misao welcome me home. "How was Himura's wedding?"
"Uhh. . ." I didn't know exactly what to say. "It was ok."
"Oh, well, that's nice." she responded. I guess her mind was on something else becuase usually she would have bombarded me with questions of all sorts.
"So," I started. "how have things been around here?"
"Same as always, you were only gone for three days."
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One morning, a few weeks later. I entered Building B for my class. I had been running late that morning and was rushing to get to class. not noticing where I was going, I ran straight into some and promptly dropped all my books from the impact.
"Oh, gomen! I wasn't looking where I was going."
I looked at the young man I had bumped into. He was tall, much taller than I. He had snow-white hair and mischievous turquoise eyes.
"No, the fault is mine. I'm afraid I was so mesmerized by your beauty that I didn't notice where I was going." I blushed when he said that; the only person that had ever called me beautiful was Kenshin. "May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" he was charming, that was for sure, but I didn't really know what I was getting into at that time.
"Kamiya Kaoru." I answered.
"Yukishiro Enishi." Yukishiro. That sounded familiar, but I couldn't place where I had heard it before. Ah, but perhaps it was not important. He stuck his hand out and I took it. "Well, Kaoru-san, perhaps we will be seeing more of each other one of these days, ne?"
"Maybe, Yukishiro-san, but I really must be going. I have class."
And we parted ways, but it was definitely not he end of Enishi.
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After that thing pretty much returned to normal. Misao and I teasing Aoshi, me working too much, Misao telling me that I should get out more, Aoshi taking Misao out to dinner. Yup, everything was the way it was supposed to be and I was, for the most part, content.
I bumped into Enishi again, a few weeks after I had first met him.
"Kaoru-san!" Someone was calling me, I turned to see Enishi.
"Enishi-san! Nice to see you again." I greeted as we continued walking. "How have you been?"
"Pretty well, I guess. My sister was recently married."
"Oh, really? I attended my friend's wedding not too long ago"
"Must be a coincidence" [2]
"Must be. . . I'm sorry, I really have to go now," I gestured to the door beside me. "class" I started to walk in.
"Wait a minute, Kaoru-san" I turned around. "Want to have coffee sometime?"
"Sure" I smiled.
He smiled back as well. "How's today at . . . 3:00, at the cafe on the corner of Cherry and Pine?"
"That would be great."
Coffee was great. Enishi told me all about his life. He had one older sister. Their parents died early on and they were put in separate foster families. His sister in Kyoto, him in Shanghai. He loved her very much and was utterly devoted to her, even at the young age of six. When he was eighteen, he returned to Japan to find his sister and of course to attend college.
The best part of having coffee was when I went home, I could actually put a look of surprise on Misao's face.
It began with the usually phrase. "Kaoru, you really don't date enough. I'm sure that if you even tried to look, there'd be plenty of guys that would want to go out with you!"
And instead of my usual. 'All the guys that ask my out are losers' I said, "Well . . . I met this guy."
She squealed so loud that I swear Aoshi must have heard her three floors up. "Oh my god! What's his name? What's he looks like? Is he cute? Tell me all about him!!!"
"His name is Yukishiro Enishi."
"Hmm. . . Yukishiro, that wounds familiar."
And then I proceeded to tell her everything I knew about him. when I was finished, she sighed. "Oh Kao-chan, he sounds so great. You know I just might have gone after him if it weren't for my Ao-kun." She winked at me.
"Misao!"
She held her hands up. "Just kidding! just kidding! I love Aoshi and I wouldn't give him up for the world." she smiled "but he sounds great for you, though."
"Well, one coffee's not really going to decide that is it?"
"Then when he calls you to ask you out, say yes!"
She had said it with such zeal, I had to laugh. "Oh, alright. I promise I'll says yes."
And I kept to my promise. Enishi did call a day or two later and we a really nice dinner. he was charmed, so very charming, and funny as well. I genuinely laughed at his anecdotes. He was extremely intelligent, majoring in math and science; he was also fluent in not only Japanese, but Chinese, French and English.
Enishi was so wonderful to me like no one else had every been and within a few months, he had stolen my heart.
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[1] I have no idea how long it take to fly from Tokyo to Kyoto, but if it takes Kenshin 10 days to walk, then it shouldn't take more than an hour to fly, right?
[2] realize that Kaoru assumes that Enishi attended the wedding, and since she doesn't know that he's Tomoe's brother (since, Tomoe never said and she forgets her last name) they just assume that they both knew couples getting married around the same time. does that make sense?
A/N: Wai! Enishi's finally here!! It's the so loved E/K pairing! (eh, sorta) I had lots of trouble writing this chapter. anyway, we're reaching the climax soon in one or two chapters, then maybe two or three chapters and an epilogue. So 5-6 more chapters left. I've got the basic outline of the plot, but haven't figured out all the details yet. Ideas are welcome and appreciated and have a good chance of being used if it fits into the main plot
PLEASE REVIEW!!