Sentiments of gip-k: -Hello, all. This is already the THIRTEENTH chapter! I am SO glad you all have been enjoying the story so far. You should enjoy this chapter even more than the others… if that's at all possible! Thanks for all your wonderful support.
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Disclaimer: … … … I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. It belongs to Watsuki Nobuhiro, its illustrator/writer/creator.
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---High tides and Sweeping Waves---
When Kazuma and I had finally limped over to the dojo, I sat him down on the inside of the house, and hurried over to get wrappings and hot water. My hands were so frantic, and I could hardly breathe. Though he had not called, I almost felt like shouting to him that I was coming. My heart beat hard in my chest. I loved him with all my heart- it was all I could think of, and it blurred my sight and filled my mind to overflowing levels.
I hurried back, and found myself slowing down. I gave him a weak smile.
"Erhm, could you please take off your shirt?" I asked gingerly.
"Hai," Kazuma said with a smile.
He began removed the shirt, and I gasped. My eyes blurred with tears as I was suddenly caught between admiration and deep pain.
He had hard solid muscles, and strong, wide shoulders underneath there; however, several bruises and cuts interrupted his tight, smooth layer of skin. I heard him groan softly as he removed the shirt.
My face heated up completely, and tears blurred my eyes at the same time.
"You're hurt badly," I whispered.
Kazuma grimaced.
"It's not that bad," he replied.
I pressed on his torso, on the left side of his rib cage.
"Does that hurt?" I asked.
He shook his head, and I bit my lip, continuing to press. When I got to the middle of the right side…
"Ouch!" Kazuma cried loudly, muttering an oath. I thought I saw tears in his eyes for a second, and he sniffled. "Goodness, Kaoru-chan what're you trying to do -?"
I ignored that comment, still deep in my own thoughts.
"I think it's broken," I replied. "Or sprained, possibly."
Kazuma fell silent as I began tying the wrappings around him tightly- well, other than his occasional groans. I glanced up at him from my work for a second, and he smiled at me weakly.
"Do they have to be that tight?" he asked.
"Yes," I said, my eyes returning to my wrapping. I finally tied the ends of the wraps, and all was done. Then I noticed a large bruise forming on Kazuma's left arm near his elbow. I gingerly lifted the arm, studying it. Kazuma blinked.
"I- got hit there," he said.
I nodded softly, and replied.
"If you don't feel anything now, it could be a lot worst tomorrow," I said. I began wrapping that up as well, and made a sling for his arm out of some more of the wrappings. He remained very silent… so much so that all I could hear was his soft, even breathing.
With a cloth and the warm water, I cleaned the blood off of his lip, and then I put everything away.
"There," I said softly. "I'm all done, just let me get you some pillows-"
Kazuma caught my arm, and I stared at him- no, deep into those gold-brown eyes. I saw… slight worry, in them.
"But Kaoru-chan, you're hurt, too," Kazuma replied. "You're limping, and you've got a big scrape on your cheek. Let me bandage it."
I then realized suddenly that I was limping, and instinctively felt at my face. I grimaced… my cheek was very raw, and all of the sudden I felt a burning sensation -a shot of pain- go up my ankle and all the way above my knee, and slightly in my thigh. I was so concerned about Kazuma that I had not noticed those before.
So I let him pull me down in front of him. His eyes then looked around him, and then he noticed some ointment sitting by the towels. He reached over, grimacing and moaning a bit from the strain. He picked up the ointment, and then went back into his former position, sighing slightly- a sigh of relief, most likely. I could not keep my eyes away from him. He opened the ointment, and then took some in his hand. His eyes concentrating solely on the wound… he was so loving, so tender and ginger as he rubbed the ointment on the scrape. I hissed a bit… the ointment tended to sting. Kazuma grimaced a little at that, but otherwise, his face did not change. Then, just as gingerly, he place the bandages on my cheek- a bit crookedly, but I did not mind one bit. I blinked at him, still in awe, as his face returned to normal. It was filled with love and affection.
Kazuma treated my ankle the same way, despite my protests that it simply had gotten twisted a little. I finally gave up and let him have his way.
When all was done, we both exchanged warm smiles… well, I felt that his was much warmer, for it filled me with a strong, comforting heat that extended all the way to the tips of my fingers and toes.
I attempted to get up again, and Kazuma pulled me back down and I landed on him with a thump.
"Come sit with me," he whispered in my ear. I felt the soft warmth of his breath on my cheek, and it made my cheeks tingle.
"No, Kazuma," I replied, blushing. "I'm too dirty and everything- I have to get cleaned up."
I attempted to get up, and laughed when he pulled me back down.
"Ka-"
He cut me off, wrapping his good arm around my waist and turning me to him, then giving me a rich, soft kiss. I returned it, cuddling up against him, smiling between the kisses. I wrapped my arms around his neck, lost in the kisses… and the warmth that filled my entire body.
Kazuma's hand reached for the ribbon in the back of my kimono, and I hardly noticed.
After a while I realized what we were… doing. Then I made a soft sound in my throat, a word that did not come out. Then I finally pulled away from him, breathless. Kazuma's eyes were sparkling.
"Kazuma," I said, turning away from him. My cheeks were heated. "I do not think -?"
Kazuma seemed to understand because he let go of me. His face looked… pained, though. I pulled the kimono back over my shoulders, covering myself. I reached behind and began tying the ribbon in the back. I could feel Kazuma's eyes boring into me.
"Do you think you could help me with this?" I asked, a bit frustrated at the dang ribbon. Kazuma helped as best as he could with his one hand- I could still sense his disappointment. Well, he was the one who had undone the stupid thing anyway!
Well after I was done, I stalked off- or limped, rather- without looking at Kazuma, still embarrassed and terribly rattled. I had actually wanted to- but I could not bring myself to -!
I paused, and kicked aside a bucket in frustration. Then I went and stood it up, top deep in the ground, and sat on it. I covered my face with both hands, which hands were shaking slightly. Then I huffed out a huge sigh, getting myself ready to think. I thought about what had previously occurred. I found my mouth twisting up into a smile, and my cheeks, for all their heat, were no doubt scarlet. I bit my lip to try to keep from smiling, but then I started giggling of all things.
I finally brought myself to get up from my seat on the bucket. Then I, with a small sigh, got up, ignoring the annoying pain in my leg, and went to get myself cleaned up.
As I bathed, I made sure not to get my ankle wet, because of the wrappings. I looked at my ankle, which was sticking out of the water, and found myself studying the bandages. They made me think of Kazuma… his unique way of wrapping… everything crookedly on top of anything else… the backwards kind of tying up everything. I snapped myself out of it- I would not think about Kazuma so much!
As I got out of the bath water, grimacing at my ankle, I found myself once again thinking of him- or rather, thinking of not thinking of him, but that led me back to his face- his eyes- every single time. I even stopped in the middle of drying myself, just daydreaming about his face. I had to once again snap out of my trance, and then I hurriedly dressed. It was almost dinner time- but oh, I did not feel like dinner! I felt like cuddling in Kazuma's strong arms and falling asleep. Or- I squashed the thought.
I opened the door of the bathhouse, and walked out. I was dressed in a simple, comfy pale blue kimono, and I felt tired- I should not have soaked in the bath so long. I had gotten far too used to the easy comfort that the warm water gave me as it cleansed some of the ache out of my weary joints. I began walking towards the house, but I froze in my tracks at the site of Kazuma standing outside.
"You shouldn't be up, Kazuma," I scolded him softly, averting his eyes. I turned my face away, my cheeks burning as my tongue thought of more excuses. "You're hurt. You should be resting- so- so you can heal more quickly. If you don't have time to rest, the bones won't knit properly. Now please, go back to- to- to rest."
Kazuma just let me ramble without interruption, and that made me more embarrassed.
"Kaoru, I'm sorry," he said with an audible sigh. "I… I just got a little out of-" Kazuma paused, as if searching for the words, and sighed again, but this time slightly. "I had no excuse for my actions, Kaoru-chan. Please forgive me."
"You're forgiven," I said softly.
"I'm not worthy to stay in your dojo today," he said. "Let me go to my own home."
I waved my hand dismissivily.
"That's not true at all," I said, finally turning to Kazuma once more. I gave him a small smile. "You're always welcome here." Kazuma smiled back. "And-" I said teasingly. "Don't try bowing to me in that condition. I would not want you to break another rib."
"Hai, of course, Kaoru-chan," he said, grinning widely.
Our eyes locked once again, until I finally looked away momentarily and broke the hard lock.
"I have to cook some dinner," I said, returning to the topic at hand. "Gah! I don't feel like cooking now at all."
"I'll cook, then," Kazuma offered eagerly.
I smiled at him.
"No, that will not be necessary," I said, eyes sparkling. I walked over to him, and pulled one of his arms around my shoulder. "You… can hardly stand. You will go and lie down right now. I will cook and bring the food to you while you are lying there. Sounds good, hai?"
"Hai," Kazuma said, smiling. He tapped the tip of my nose with one of his fingers.
So that was exactly what we did….
* * *
A couple of weeks had passed since the bandits attacked us, and every day drew Kazuma and I closer together, but each day inched closer to the day that Sanosuke would come back. So in that respect, I was torn, and as days passed, most likely became more distant. Kazuma spent the first days in the dojo with me, and we recovered of our wounds. Megumi was busy taking care of patients, and she seemed edgy and excited. By the end of the first week when I took the bandage off of my face, it was totally and completely healed, and of all things, the skin seemed softer and smoother! My ankle had healed after three days, and though Kazuma's ribs were still mending, he was doing well and was back to work on a smaller scale, but working nonetheless.
When finally, that day did come, I had to rush out of the dojo early one morning, barely having time to greet Kazuma at the gate and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before hurrying out to meet Megumi in town.
When I meant Megumi, we did not exchange happy greetings. Megumi was practically hopping up and down like a little girl, and her eyes were sparkling, though her face was otherwise very serious. I was eager as well, but I had this twisting in the bottom of my stomach. I had not seen Sanosuke in such a long time, and I was unsure of what his reaction would be.
We walked side by side all the way to the docks, only stopping to toss a coin to a beggar or buying a few dumplings from a child's tray to snack on.
When we finally reached the docks, they were bustling with activity.
We stood on a bridge over-looking the dock, and sharpened our eyes to be on the lookout for anyone in a white coat.
We waited a while, hoping to catch any sign of the ferryboats coming in. They were supposed to arrive from eight to noon.
After about an hour or so, my eyes locked on a ferryboat in the distance, approaching the docks.
"Look," I nudged Megumi, and then pointed to the place where I saw. Megumi's eyes lighted up with recognition.
"Yes, that's one of them," she mused.
I nodded slightly.
"I guess we just have to keep out on the lookout for a tall guy in a white coat," I said softly.
We watched the people coming out of the boats very carefully, but none of them was Sanosuke. Megumi looked disappointed, but we continued to keep a lookout.
As the next ferry came in, we watched it just as carefully. People poured out of it, and as the end came, I lost my interest. Sanosuke was not there, either.
"I think we've got him," Megumi said cheerfully.
"Huh?" I said.
Megumi pointed. Sanosuke's extreme height and white coat made him stand out like a candle in the dark. He was moving quickly… as much as the crowds would allow.
"Mou! There he is!" I exclaimed. "Let's go."
Megumi and I hurried across the bridge, and then down to the docks. We could hardly move through the crowds, and Sanosuke was rounding the nearest corner. My eyes were hard locked on him, though, and I knew we could not lose him.
We hurried through the crowds as best as we could, having little time to murmur apologies to all the people we crashed in to and bumped against in our hurry.
We finally got to the docks, and ran across the wooden floor, the distant sound of our panting and slippers hitting the docks drowned out by the bustle of people unloading and loading cargo, and the noise of the people as they did it.
We finally thought we caught unto Sanosuke- a flash of white fleeting around the nearest left corner. We hurried after him.
The roads began to get less busy, and it was easier to walk normally. Sanosuke did not slow his pace one bit, but kept walking.
I had no idea where he was going, but it was far away from the docks. My legs were starting to ache from all the walking and following.
Sanosuke stopped only once, and that was to speak briefly with a pretty looking girl in front of a restaurant. It was actually called flirting, though. I almost groaned. He was the same in that respect, I supposed.
We continued following him, and I began to almost get weary of it. I had to keep slowing Megumi down for a few moments and yanking her ahead sometimes, because if we did not follow correctly, someone like Sanosuke would easily know he was being trailed.
Sanosuke traveled all the way to the other side of town, and places and people began to look more familiar. Yet when he took a couple of turns, we found a place that we seldom visited, somewhere northwest of the Akebeko.
Megumi grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop so abruptly, that I nearly fell down. It had hurt my arm, too. I rounded on her, ready to scream at her at the top of her lungs, when she pulled me around the corner.
"Megumi, what are you -?"
"Shhh!" Megumi exclaimed. She gave me an intent look, and I calmed down. "Do you know who's house he just went in to?"
I shook my head, confused.
"That's the house of Tsunan the artist, or rather, Katsu," Megumi said in a low voice.
My mind began to work, and then my eyes lit up with recognition.
"You mean his old friend from the Seikihoutai?" I whispered, barely concealing a gasp with my hand.
Megumi nodded grimly.
"I thought they weren't going to speak to each other anymore," I replied, still in deep shock. "I thought that- you know, Kenshin stopped that revolution that Katsu was planning before they could-"
"I know," Megumi said bitterly. "Yet since…" Megumi's eyes held accusation in them for a small second. A small second, but it was enough for me to see what she was thinking. "…Well, with everything that's happened. The two of them could be wrapped up in something again."
I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, to think.
"We have to stop them," I said firmly. "We must."
I turned around the corner with Megumi at my heels, and stormed up to the door…
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gip-k's Post Chapter Statements: -I know, I usually leave no cliffhangers… well, nothing like this. I just could not make the chapter any longer without over-extending my set length, and so I will just have to give you another. I'll just put my special thanks there, okay? ^_^ Don't ever think that I'd forget you guys, my readers and supporters!
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