Sentiments of gip-k: -Hello, all. I am quite pleased that you liked that last chapter so much! That makes me EXTREMELY happy. So now, without further ado, let us continue. ^_^
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Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. It belongs to Watsuki Nobuhiro, its illustrator, writer, and TV series producer.
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---Greener Grass, Drooping Flowers---
Soft noises slowly stirred me awake. When I came to full alertness, my eyes burst open, and a gasp erupted from me at the sudden remembrance of Kazuma.
I hurried out of bed and just as quickly dressed. On previous days I had just worn whatever I wished, but now- now I had a guest. I had to make a good appearance.
I spotted Kazuma walking about just as I opened my doors.
"Oi! Good morning, Miss Kamiya," Kazuma said, tipping his hat a bit nervously.
"Good morning, Kazuma," I replied softly.
I noticed that Kazuma was already all dressed for the day, his coat and everything put on like he was ready to leave.
"Did you- sleep well?" Kazuma asked a bit uncertainly.
"Yes," I replied blankly.
I got a sudden uneasy feeling in myself as I remembered yesterday's events, and how I had nearly-
"Uh, Miss Kamiya I have to go now," Kazuma replied uneasily, interrupting my thoughts. He spoke in a quieter voice. "My apologies, Miss Kamiya, 'tis just that I've gotta go to work now."
Work… I thought silently. I felt deep regret for a moment, but instantly squashed it. I would not get depressed again.
"Will you be all right?" Kazuma asked worriedly.
"Um, yes!" I exclaimed putting on a quick smile. "It's just that I- I did not want you to leave without having breakfast!"
"Oi!" Kazuma exclaimed, a soft smile touching his lips. "I almost forgot myself." Then Kazuma became serious. "Um, you don't have to fix it or anything-"
I waved my hand.
"No, it's nothing!" I replied, forcing another smile.
Kazuma still looked a tad bit worried, but he followed me into the kitchen, and I prepared a quick breakfast. I did not know why I felt so… shaky. I ignored the feeling, though, and continued my cooking.
I put the food in front of Kazuma first, and then sat down myself. I started eating, not enjoying it much, but then when Kazuma tasted it…
"Miss Kamiya!" he exclaimed, his face full of bliss and joy.
I almost dropped my chopsticks.
"Y- yes?"
"This food is… is delicious!" he exclaimed. "I've never tasted such good food in my life!"
A smile involuntary made its way unto my lips, and I blushed at his praise.
"R-really?" I asked timidly.
Kazuma's mouth was too full for him to speak, so he just nodded. My face grew positively warm. I was too abashed to even finish my breakfast.
I cleared the table, and Kazuma sat lingering there for a few moments. He soon stated that it was most likely time for him to head out. I followed him to the dojo gate, and before he left, he turned to me. His golden brown eyes were filled with an emotion I could not decipher, but it was so strong that I was left frozen, with naught to do but blink.
"It was… very nice meeting you, Miss Kamiya," Kazuma said.
"It was nice meeting you, too, Kazuma," I replied softly.
Kazuma then turned to leave, but then he turned again.
"It is all right if I- come visit you again some time?" Kazuma asked. His voice sounded uncertain, eyes filled with eagerness.
"Uh…" I said, his gaze causing me to stammer. "I guess that would be all right."
Kazuma nodded softly, and then bowed before he departed out through the gate.
I did not know why I felt so… jumpy, but I did all the same. Quite… odd.
I walked back into the house, still dazed. I decided to go ahead and do some calligraphy writing, which I had not done in a long while.
So, I began, slow, sweeping strokes. I was doing that for quite a while and after an hour or so I got up to take a break. I noticed my bokken, hakama, and gi sitting neatly in a corner in my room, and realized suddenly that I had not trained in a long while. I felt a tiny feeling inside of me as I touched the hilt… pain. I decided I would train- but not now, later.
I suddenly realized that nothing had been done since Kenshin had been left. There was laundry, floor wiping, sweeping, and lots of other household chores that needed doing. So I spent the rest of the morning tidying up.
By the afternoon time, everything was clean and tidy, and I felt refreshed. It felt strangely satisfying to be up and about again, somehow.
I checked the food stock to make sure I did not need to go to the market again. Well, without Sano sneaking around the place and constantly filching food off of me, I had quite enough for just myself. Thoughts of Sano filled me with a small bit of guilt once more, but I squashed it. There was no need for me to sink back into depression again.
The sun was high in the sky, which meant the afternoon was already here. Well, I'd gotten a lot done, but now, it was time to train.
I picked up my bokken and headed out into the training yard. I got myself into a fighting stance. I closed my eyes, exhaling softly. I needed to relax- to concentrate. I slowly felt myself drifting… finally all my emotions were one. All contained as the fuel that I would use for my strike. Waiting… waiting… I lifted the bokken slowly above my head. Then…
"HAHH!" I brought the bokken down with a loud cry, my eyes bursting open. It was… terrible. The hit did not cause the air to beat at my bangs, nor produce the swishing sound I was accustomed to hearing. I frowned. Then, I closed my eyes, and tried the strike again, this time, using more of my emotion, strength, and being.
"HAAHHH!"
It was better, but not much. I continued practicing. I tried hitting more. I fought against an imaginary opponent. I began to sweat profusely as my training continued. With all my being and my strength…
When the sun was beginning to slip beneath the trees I was still training. I was sweating, and my joints ached slightly, but I refused to quit. I had to do my very best… I had to make up for all those lazy days…
"Miss Kamiya!"
The sound of that voice startled me, and I nearly dropped my bokken. My eyes widened, and I flipped around towards the source of the sound.
"Miss Kamiya, are you home?"
"Kazuma…" I mouthed in surprise.
I rushed towards the gate as fast as I could, nearly tripping over my feet. My heart pounded in my chest. I had not expected him…
"I'm… here," I said, struggling not to pant.
Instead of his usual polite bow, Kazuma looked at me with raw astonishment. He blinked, and looked me over.
"Miss… Kamiya?" Kazuma asked, a confused look over his face. "What are you wearing?"
I looked myself over, and started when I realized that I was still in my gi and hakama, and covered with sweat. I was not in a very presentable state.
"Mou!" I said. My cheeks grew warm. Wait… why was I blushing like a silly little girl? I had NOTHING to be ashamed of!
"Why do you have the -?" Kazuma's eyes roved over to the bokken in my hand.
"Oh!" I said, holding it up. "You mean this?"
Kazuma nodded, a mixed look of worry and astonishment present on his now pale face.
"This is a bokken," I replied. The look on Kazuma's face just embarrassed me further.
"Oh of course!" Kazuma said in with the sudden realization. He blushed a pure scarlet. "I had, er, um, forgotten that you, erhm, practiced Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. Um, this is your dojo, of course, but I guess it's just that you look so-" I waited for him to finish, and he blushed even a deeper scarlet. "Um, so… strange out of, erhm, women's clothing, I guess."
Then I noticed that Kazuma was trying to avert looking at my- I almost beat him with the bokken, but instead I found myself smiling and saying…
"Of course. I have got that one before."
Then I remembered… Kenshin had first seem me in a gi and hakama so he had said I looked weird in women's clothing. I frowned. Kenshin…
"Miss Kamiya?" Kazuma said, noticing my faraway look.
"Mou! I suppose I ought to get cleaned up," I said with a weak smile. "I'll be right back. Just give me a chance to take a bath."
Kazuma nodded, though he was still trying to avoid looked at me. I walked away, and felt his eyes boring into my back. I looked back around, and Kazuma turned quickly away and started whistling some tune that he'd so suddenly made up. Humph! Did he think I did not notice him admiring my figure? I smiled softly to myself as I continued to my room to retrieve a kimono.
I had a hard time choosing, though. I had already decided in my mind that I would wear my most beautiful kimono, the purple one, all embroidered with flowers and that had a pink velvet bow to match it. Where was it? I searched for it, letting out curses. My room was in disarray by the time I had finally found it, and in my eyes, by then, it looked like an angel's gown. I picked it up with a sigh of relief, and then retrieved my bow. I dropped my bokken in the corner, gathered my clothing up in a bundle in my arms, and then headed out of my room. Kazuma was waiting still pretending to not look at me.
"Don't peek!" I scolded him.
Kazuma's face, finally started to clear up, became crimson again.
"Hai (Yes), Miss Kamiya, I'd never do that," he said quickly, glancing at me in a sideways kind of way.
I blushed a little at his blushing- silly me! -And then hurried off to the bathhouse. Luckily, I'd already been heating water, so it was not long before I was sinking into the warm water. The aroma of the sweet soaps was tantalizing, and I inhaled it contently. Ah, I almost never wanted to leave.
But I had to get out, for Kazuma was no doubt waiting for me. As I stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around myself, I froze. Wait a minute… I had not prepared dinner! Oh no!
I dressed hurriedly, and smartened up my hair a bit, and then hurried out of the door. I nearly knocked Kazuma over. When he came to, he looked at me, blinking. His eyes were filled with that look that I'd seen the day before. My navy orbs met his brown levelly, but this time he did not turn away.
"Miss… Kamiya," he breathed, voice filled with ecstasy.
I tore my eyes away from his.
"I- forgot to cook dinner," I said softly. I could not make myself meet his gaze. "Uh, I guess I should hurry then."
I stepped away from him, leaving him standing there star-eyed. Star-eyed… was that the proper way to describe it?
I hurried about the kitchen feeling… jumpy. I felt like my hands should be shaking violently as I reached for the China plates stored in the cabinet, but they were not.
"Do you need some help, Miss Kamiya?" Kazuma asked as he entered the kitchen.
I nearly dropped the bowl. I closed my eyes, and let out a deep breath to calm myself.
"N- no thank you," I croaked.
I continued with the cooking, quite aware of Kazuma standing behind me. Do your best, do your best… I told myself. Then I was aware of a strange smell coming from the rice pot.
"Oh Kami!" Kazuma cried, rushing over to me. He quickly poured water over the rice, and I blinked still dazed. Then I realized… I had forgotten to put enough water on the rice!
With a similar cry, I quickly began helping Kazuma to douse the rice with water. We both coughed at the smoke erupting from the pot. Kazuma looked at me in bewilderment, and I looked down, cheeks growing warm.
"Well," Kazuma said a matter-of-factly. "Looks like we'll be having no rice tonight."
I looked up at him, and noticing the amused smile on his face, burst out into laughter. He began laughing as well.
"I'm so sorry Kazuma," I said, cheeks red.
"Ack! It's okay, Miss Kamiya," Kazuma said with a wave of his hand. "Um, though it does look like you should stir those vegetables before they get too cooked on the bottom-"
I flipped around suddenly, and quickly began stirring.
"Mou!" I cried. "What a disaster!"
Kazuma helped me with the rest of the cooking, and we managed to have perfectly well cooked tofu and a lot of soggy vegetables salvaged for dinner.
We sat down on mats around the small table, and I began to eat. Kazuma ate as well, and I stifled giggles behind my hand as he waved his hands in the air as his mouth burned.
"You're supposed to cool it a bit, first, I think," I said, still laughing.
Kazuma's face was positively red as he swallowed the food down.
"Ouch," he moaned. I laughed more. He gave me a timid, embarrassed smile. "Ah, Miss Kamiya I thought you were nicer." He teased.
We finished our meals pretty much in silence. I decided to go outside and sit on the steps after dinner, since Kazuma had offered to help with the dishes.
After a few moments, Kazuma joined me. The crickets were already starting to chirp, and all that was left of the daytime sun was a faint glow coming from the space beneath the trees. I watched casually as solitary bird flew across the sky, and found a place in the branches of a faraway tree. Tears welled up in my eyes as I remembered that before I had sat here with Kenshin, but I quickly dried them and swallowed down the lump in my throat.
"Don't cry, Miss Kamiya," Kazuma's voice was a faint whisper beside me. I started, having forgotten that he was there.
"I'm… sorry, Kazuma," I said replied softly. "It's just that I-" I dabbed at my eye with the sleeve of my kimono.
"It's all right to tell me, Miss Kamiya," he said softly. His words seemed to hold a strange strength, and his eyes glowed as he peered down at me. The tenderness in his voice prompted me to go on.
"I miss Kenshin," I said with a sigh. "I wish he would come back."
Kazuma did not say anything then, for a long while.
"What was he… like, Miss Kamiya?"
Kazuma's voice held uncertainty, as though he was near afraid of the answer. But I dismissed this, for there was overwhelming compassion in his voice.
"He was…" I started, pausing momentarily. "Not very tall. Only an inch or so taller than me, and often times when you look at him, all wearing his… um, purple patchy kind of gi, you'd think he was a… bum, or something like that. He had this long, fiery kind of hair," A lump formed in my throat as I remembered him. "He- he was… gentle. He was very gentle and kind. He was… very strong, though. You would not think he was when you first looked at him. And…" I paused for a moment, not sure to give a crucial detail. "He had a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek." Kazuma gasped at that, but I continued on. "And he had…" My voice finally broke. "He had… these… eyes. These beautiful, lovely violet eyes. You could almost see his… his very soul in those eyes. His- pain."
I felt a shiver run through me. The tears were now flowing down my cheeks, freely.
"This was the man that you… loved?" Kazuma said barely audibly.
"Yes," I stammered, my voice completely and totally broken, now. Kazuma hesitated for a moment, and his brows were furrowed in concentration.
"I… remember… seeing him, with you," Kazuma said, sounding disturbed. "In the marketplace. He had a… a sword that he always kept with him."
"Yes," I sobbed out.
Now I was sobbing loudly, now.
Kazuma put a sturdy, yet gentle hand under my chin and lifted it. I gasped, frozen by his touch.
"Please don't cry, Miss Kamiya," he said softly.
I looked up into his brown eyes. His hair seemed lit afire by the setting sun, and he had the most sympathetic expression on his face that I had ever seen.
"Why -?" I began, not knowing what to say. I turned away from him, and he withdrew his hand.
"Did I -?"
"No," I said quickly. I got up from my seat on the steps of the dojo. Kazuma stood up, as well.
"Do you want me to leave, Miss Kamiya?" he asked, as though reading my mind.
I looked up at him. The hesitancy… the sadness… I could hardly bear to look at him, but I did.
"Yes," I replied softly.
Without word Kazuma bowed, and began leaving.
"Wait."
Kazuma stopped in his tracks, and turned to me. I looked at him levelly.
"Call me… Kaoru," I said in a barely audible voice.
Kazuma nodded, and his eyes seemed to… brighten, somehow, though the concern was still there.
"Good-bye, Kaoru," he said just as inaudibly.
"Good-bye, Kazuma."
Then Kazuma walked out the dojo gate. He had never said he was not coming back, and I knew he would but… I felt the pain as though I was losing him forever.
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gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -Hello all. (Heh) I sure hope you have enjoyed this chapter. I know you probably wanted more to "happen" in this chapter but I'm afraid some of you might not know that separation from beloved people is no easy task. I know it so do not say "oh just hurry up!". Take things patiently, please! You've been very patient I know so, so I'm sure you'd understand I am trying to make this story of reasonable length and also not making it corny. I WILL not! ^_^ Okay after that bit of ranting here are my special thanks.
Xkamori
You rock. ^_^ Thank you SOOO much for reading my story. (Smiling) It even made a boy almost cry. ^_^ I'm so glad I have succeeded in being good for the interest of boys and girls. :D It was what I was trying to do all along but somehow only girls reviewed me! ^_^ So you liking my work is a big accomplish for me. Thanks, Xkamori!
Crazed Fanatic Anime Fan
Sha-la-la-la! Yes, Kaoru's cheering up. Everyone seemed really glad about that and you always seem to be the first to review every chapter! ^_^
Tomoe2Kenshin
You are so cool, girly! ^_^ I love that you love this story! I had thought you had forgotten me. (triple pouts).
SaffDragon
I can NOT believe I had continually forgot to thank you for all your reviews. You're very cool in my book, so do not worry about that! :D
Dragon Ladysupreme
Hi ya! :D Thank you for reviewing, Aya! I really appreciate that. Well, I guess you could say the Kuwabara thangy was inspired partially by you. -.- You got me feeling sympathy for the poor ugly fellow by calling him baka. Good for you! ^_^
Brittanie Love
Continuing to cheer up from your awe-stuck-ness, lol. :D Yes, Kaoru is cheering up, and this is still a great fiction! Thanks a MILLION for all your nice reviews and I think you like this story more than anyone else! And I appreciate that VERY much.
Female Hitokiri Battousai
Here's your forever-desired update! I am so glad you like this story so much. And may you get well and stay well forever! ^_^
QueenKagom
I know you probably meant "Queen Kagome", lol. (typo, maybe?):D Thank you for reviewing! All new reviewers are precious in my eyes! :D Cheers!
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And to all those who have reviewed before and continue to review thank you for all your beautiful support.
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