Hello! lol you'll never know all the trouble i go through for you... i
actually took this to school and worked on it in between sections of the
PSAT so i could finish it in time... but really it was no trouble
whatsoever because it's not like i had anything else to do between
sections. and also one of you asked for a comparison of the two boys' love
lives, so here. you got it.
History Behind the History, chapter 6
Akitaka put his shiny, new red car in park in a strange driveway. He was taking a girl out for the first time in awhile- his breakup with his steady girlfriend last year had shaken him up and he had thought he would never look at another woman. She had moved away and they'd tried hard to keep up their dating, but in the end, it was just a sham- there had been no real relationship left after awhile other than a few awkward phone calls where neither of them had known what to say. This had been enough to keep him from getting over her, and thus he'd had lots of emotional baggage recently. All summer he had seen girls, talked to them, even enjoyed their company, but never once been interested in romance. Finally, though, another girl had shown interest and he had felt all right returning it. Now here he was in her driveway.
It felt like slimy things were squirming around in his stomach as he walked up to the door, slowly realizing he would also have to confront the strange parents who lived in this strange house. Be cool, he told himself. Just don't drop anything on anybody. He was actually carrying some roses, which had the potential to be painful if dropped on somebody, as he'd seen firsthand on his and his last girlfriend's three month anniversary. He knocked on the door and soon a short man with some gray hair beginning to appear stood before him.
"M-Mr. Higo?" Akitaka asked in confusion.
"Akitaka! My daughter, Kira, said she had a date with you tonight. I'll go get her," he offered and disappeared without inviting Akitaka inside. A few moments later, the unexpected teacher came to the door again and invited Akitaka in, since Kira apparently wasn't ready yet. Of course.
The two men sat in the living room across a coffee table from one another and there was a small silence. So the father of his date was also his teacher- great. The squirming things in his stomach were now apparently involved in a wild duel to the death.
"So... Mr. Higo... Kira never told me she was your daughter," Akitaka observed nervously, trying to make pleasant conversation.
"Really? Can't imagine why not. Have you chosen a subject for your history paper?" Finally, a relatively comfortable topic.
"I think I'll research Battousai some more. He was very interesting."
"That he was. I believe you'll find more if you look up the name 'Himura.'"
"But... the book said his name was unknown..."
"There's only speculation, but they're calling him that in some of the more knowledgeable circles and in the best articles out there," Mr. Higo explained.
"Thanks, Mr. Higo!" Akitaka exclaimed just as a beautiful young woman entered the room. "Hi, Kira!" He greeted enthusiastically.
"Hi, Akitaka. Sorry I wasn't ready," she apologized. She looked up at him and she was radiant with what seemed to be happiness. Akitaka felt it, too.
"It's all right. Shall we go?"
"Yes," she answered with a nod.
* *
*
"What do you think of her?"
"Nice! What about her?"
"Hey, sweet thing!"
"What about that one over there?"
"She's really pretty, but look over there."
These and other comments emanated from a group of men poking each other, laughing, and wearing navy blue uniforms. One man walked apart from the rest, but clearly had the same destination, though there was no telling where that might be. Oddly enough, the man not taking part in the girl- watching was the youngest one there- a sixteen year old with long red hair and a cross shaped scar on the left side of his face.
"Hey, Himura, what so you think of that pretty thing over there?" Someone asked, elbowing him lightly on the arm.
"All right I guess," he answered without looking up. He never participated in the other soldiers' woman-chasing. There was only one who interested him, and she was gone. He could never look at another woman.
"Aw, come on, you didn't even look! She's really pretty, see?" The man pointed with his entire arm brazenly and impolitely stretched in the direction of a certain female. Kenshin's eyes flicked up for only a second and only to satisfy the guy, not alighting on anything in particular, and then looked back down again.
"All right, I guess." Couldn't this guy take a hint? This was one time it would've been convenient to have them afraid, but of course, they only acted like that when it would be most annoying to him, never when he was in an antisocial mood.
"Jeez, you really should lower your standards a bit if she doesn't do anything for you. You'll be alone the rest of your life with that attitude," the man said, rolling his eyes.
"I don't mind that."
"You will. You might think now that you'll never love again, but you're young. You'll get over it," the man explained more impatiently that compassionately. It?
He turned and looked into the other's eyes, hurt. "I will not, and even if I did, who am I to ask another woman to go through what she went through? After taking away so many people's lives and happiness, I tried to protect one person and couldn't do it. No woman would want me."
"She did."
There was a brief silence as the two men walked next to one another, letting that statement hang in the air. Eventually, Kenshin looked back at the ground and the other man went back to the crowd to shout offensive things at passing women. Maybe he was right. Maybe a woman would want to be with him in the future, but he couldn't take that opportunity when and if it came. Just because someone wanted something didn't mean it was good for them, and there was no way he could be good for someone. How good had he been for the woman who'd accepted him before? She couldn't answer that question because she was dead, and that was answer enough. He would never look at another woman as long as he lived.
*******************************************************
Well, you can see where i am on writing a happy chapter... probably the last chapter will be the only happy one in the bunch, and maybe not even that one will be. i don't know, because i'm not really going any particular place with this story. as you can see it has no plot so far, so feel free to request things as i'm having difficulty coming up with more ideas anyway.
Amaya: thank you! just so you know i update this fic every Tuesday, i don't know if i told you that before. thanks for saying this is interesting, i try to keep my stories original.
Yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds: when you said Battousai was kawai maybe you meant kawaii... i think kawai means pathetic and kawaii means cute. i personally think he looks better as Battousai... but i like him better as the Rurouni because he's all peaceful-like and i'm into nonviolence. i like to do things people 'never thought about.'
PraiseDivineMercy: i live to serve! like the romance thing? about torturing the characters... my sister wrote a fic where k&k were married already, had Kenji, then she died! then he married a THIRD wife, and bloody heck is he going to have serious emotional problems if this one doesn't pan out...
Hitokiri-san: things do turn out to be unhappy, especially for Kenshin, poor guy... but what you said about school, i would gladly help you in math if you're having trouble i LOVE math and i'm good at it. i don't know much about Chinese history though, or any history really... i feel for you on the 40 pages thing though, that sounds hard.
History Behind the History, chapter 6
Akitaka put his shiny, new red car in park in a strange driveway. He was taking a girl out for the first time in awhile- his breakup with his steady girlfriend last year had shaken him up and he had thought he would never look at another woman. She had moved away and they'd tried hard to keep up their dating, but in the end, it was just a sham- there had been no real relationship left after awhile other than a few awkward phone calls where neither of them had known what to say. This had been enough to keep him from getting over her, and thus he'd had lots of emotional baggage recently. All summer he had seen girls, talked to them, even enjoyed their company, but never once been interested in romance. Finally, though, another girl had shown interest and he had felt all right returning it. Now here he was in her driveway.
It felt like slimy things were squirming around in his stomach as he walked up to the door, slowly realizing he would also have to confront the strange parents who lived in this strange house. Be cool, he told himself. Just don't drop anything on anybody. He was actually carrying some roses, which had the potential to be painful if dropped on somebody, as he'd seen firsthand on his and his last girlfriend's three month anniversary. He knocked on the door and soon a short man with some gray hair beginning to appear stood before him.
"M-Mr. Higo?" Akitaka asked in confusion.
"Akitaka! My daughter, Kira, said she had a date with you tonight. I'll go get her," he offered and disappeared without inviting Akitaka inside. A few moments later, the unexpected teacher came to the door again and invited Akitaka in, since Kira apparently wasn't ready yet. Of course.
The two men sat in the living room across a coffee table from one another and there was a small silence. So the father of his date was also his teacher- great. The squirming things in his stomach were now apparently involved in a wild duel to the death.
"So... Mr. Higo... Kira never told me she was your daughter," Akitaka observed nervously, trying to make pleasant conversation.
"Really? Can't imagine why not. Have you chosen a subject for your history paper?" Finally, a relatively comfortable topic.
"I think I'll research Battousai some more. He was very interesting."
"That he was. I believe you'll find more if you look up the name 'Himura.'"
"But... the book said his name was unknown..."
"There's only speculation, but they're calling him that in some of the more knowledgeable circles and in the best articles out there," Mr. Higo explained.
"Thanks, Mr. Higo!" Akitaka exclaimed just as a beautiful young woman entered the room. "Hi, Kira!" He greeted enthusiastically.
"Hi, Akitaka. Sorry I wasn't ready," she apologized. She looked up at him and she was radiant with what seemed to be happiness. Akitaka felt it, too.
"It's all right. Shall we go?"
"Yes," she answered with a nod.
* *
*
"What do you think of her?"
"Nice! What about her?"
"Hey, sweet thing!"
"What about that one over there?"
"She's really pretty, but look over there."
These and other comments emanated from a group of men poking each other, laughing, and wearing navy blue uniforms. One man walked apart from the rest, but clearly had the same destination, though there was no telling where that might be. Oddly enough, the man not taking part in the girl- watching was the youngest one there- a sixteen year old with long red hair and a cross shaped scar on the left side of his face.
"Hey, Himura, what so you think of that pretty thing over there?" Someone asked, elbowing him lightly on the arm.
"All right I guess," he answered without looking up. He never participated in the other soldiers' woman-chasing. There was only one who interested him, and she was gone. He could never look at another woman.
"Aw, come on, you didn't even look! She's really pretty, see?" The man pointed with his entire arm brazenly and impolitely stretched in the direction of a certain female. Kenshin's eyes flicked up for only a second and only to satisfy the guy, not alighting on anything in particular, and then looked back down again.
"All right, I guess." Couldn't this guy take a hint? This was one time it would've been convenient to have them afraid, but of course, they only acted like that when it would be most annoying to him, never when he was in an antisocial mood.
"Jeez, you really should lower your standards a bit if she doesn't do anything for you. You'll be alone the rest of your life with that attitude," the man said, rolling his eyes.
"I don't mind that."
"You will. You might think now that you'll never love again, but you're young. You'll get over it," the man explained more impatiently that compassionately. It?
He turned and looked into the other's eyes, hurt. "I will not, and even if I did, who am I to ask another woman to go through what she went through? After taking away so many people's lives and happiness, I tried to protect one person and couldn't do it. No woman would want me."
"She did."
There was a brief silence as the two men walked next to one another, letting that statement hang in the air. Eventually, Kenshin looked back at the ground and the other man went back to the crowd to shout offensive things at passing women. Maybe he was right. Maybe a woman would want to be with him in the future, but he couldn't take that opportunity when and if it came. Just because someone wanted something didn't mean it was good for them, and there was no way he could be good for someone. How good had he been for the woman who'd accepted him before? She couldn't answer that question because she was dead, and that was answer enough. He would never look at another woman as long as he lived.
*******************************************************
Well, you can see where i am on writing a happy chapter... probably the last chapter will be the only happy one in the bunch, and maybe not even that one will be. i don't know, because i'm not really going any particular place with this story. as you can see it has no plot so far, so feel free to request things as i'm having difficulty coming up with more ideas anyway.
Amaya: thank you! just so you know i update this fic every Tuesday, i don't know if i told you that before. thanks for saying this is interesting, i try to keep my stories original.
Yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds: when you said Battousai was kawai maybe you meant kawaii... i think kawai means pathetic and kawaii means cute. i personally think he looks better as Battousai... but i like him better as the Rurouni because he's all peaceful-like and i'm into nonviolence. i like to do things people 'never thought about.'
PraiseDivineMercy: i live to serve! like the romance thing? about torturing the characters... my sister wrote a fic where k&k were married already, had Kenji, then she died! then he married a THIRD wife, and bloody heck is he going to have serious emotional problems if this one doesn't pan out...
Hitokiri-san: things do turn out to be unhappy, especially for Kenshin, poor guy... but what you said about school, i would gladly help you in math if you're having trouble i LOVE math and i'm good at it. i don't know much about Chinese history though, or any history really... i feel for you on the 40 pages thing though, that sounds hard.