Sentiments of gip-k: -Wow, the 14th chapter! I do not know if I've ever made a fanfiction this long… not even Winter Strolls was like this. ^_^ Well, to the story!
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Disclaimer: Think of a reason why I could or could not own Rurouni Kenshin, baka disclaimer! (Now I'm speaking to a disclaimer -_-)
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---The Meeting---
I walked right up to the door, and began wrapping hard on it.
"Excuse me," I cried. "Mr. Tsunan, please let me in! Tsunan!" I took a deep breath, then stopped knocking. "Sano, if you're-"
Even before I could complete the sentence, the door opened to a small crack. I could see a glimpse of one of Katsu's red-brown eyes, and it locked with both of mine. His dark hair was still long, and he still wore the same red garments and dark green headband.
His eyes scanned me momentarily. His eyes roved back inside of the house for a moment, and then to my great surprise and anticipation, he opened the door wide, letting it hit the wall softly. He then stepped out of the way, revealing the tall figure of Sanosuke, clad in his usual white suit, sitting down cross-legged on the ground at a small table, which took up most of the room in the tiny dwelling.
Sanosuke's purely brown eyes locked with my dark blue for a moment, and I could not decipher the emotion in them. I was totally at a loss for words, and could all of the sudden think of nothing to say.
"Sano…" I started off, a large lump in my throat as I struggled to speak. I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but blinked them away.
"It's been a long time, Kaoru," Sanosuke said, taking a sip of a small glass of sake that was on the table. His eyes never left me, though. His voice was just the same… he was the same, but the way he was speaking to me was so different… so distant, that it hurt.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a small second, and when I'd opened them, I was filled with a renewed determination.
"Sanosuke, I came to say I'm sorry," I said. "I was very mean and cruel to you, and I should not have been." Sanosuke remained fully and totally silent, just staring at me. "I really am, Sanosuke." He still said nothing, and I just continued on. "You can come back to the dojo, Sanosuke. You can come back any time you want."
Sanosuke did not say anything, just took another drink of sake, but his eyes told me that he had heard everything, and was digesting and considering it.
I took the opportunity to look around the small apartment.
"Can I ask -?" I said, swallowing. "Can I ask what you are doing here?"
I half expected no answer, but one came, and from a place I had not expected.
"He's hanging around with me for some time," Katsu said. I turned to him, and he gave me a small smile. "After you told him he could not go to your place anymore, he was in a big storm. I thought it would be right to ask him what was up, even though we had not talked for a long while. He told me about it, well, a little at a time, and then he started hanging around here, more. We just talk…" Katsu's looked at me intently. "…And drink sake, of course."
I blinked, and nodded softly. I returned my attention to Sanosuke. His face twisted into a wry grin, but it was not directed at me.
"So…" Sanosuke said. "You came back, and you brought the medicine woman with you, too. Megumi Takani."
I gave a start, surprised to find that Megumi had stepped up besides me and was in clear view.
"That's no proper greeting," Megumi scolded. Then she, too, smiled. "You're still the same man, aren't you? Whatever happened to you, anyway? I have not seen you up at the hospital for a long time. That's strange, considering how many 'check-ups' you seem to require." Megumi looked amused at that, but it was a tight kind of amusement, the forceful kind meant to break up tension.
Sanosuke stretched.
"I don't need them that much anymore," he replied, his joints cracking. His eyes returned to me, as he cracked his knuckles. "I have not been doing all too much, lately."
I do not know whether his simply looking at me was meant to inflict pain or to put forward an accusation- but those eyes seemed to carry something more.
"Sano," I said. "I mean what I said. I really want you to come back. I really do." I suddenly felt… weary, after saying that. It was strange. Yet I also felt relieved. In a quieter voice, I added, "I saw the note that you put at Yahiko's grave, and the… sake. I had thought that you did not care, but you do and- and I was wrong to think that you did not. I… I miss you, Sano. Please come back."
Sanosuke stared at me, and I froze. I could sense his anger building, but just as quickly it seemed to turn into icy calm. Then, surprisingly, Sanosuke's face broke into a smile.
"I'll think about it, Missy," he replied warmly.
I almost felt like walking over and hugging him tightly. My eyes filled with tears of joy… he called me… "Missy". He had not called me that in so long I had almost forgot about it- and I had once taken it for granted- even hated it.
"Say, how's Kenshin?" he asked.
My heart sunk down into deep pits of doom, and my joy faded as warmth did in the presence of an icy wind.
"He's gone," Megumi answered for me. Her voice was extremely bitter.
"Figures," Sanosuke said, surprising me. I saw a flash of disappointment, but nothing more. No anger- no black mark suddenly placed next to my name- no explosion of any kind. Just… disappointment. "I'd heard that there was some trouble down in the south, and it seemed typical that he'd go down there to try and stop it. I did not think he'd leave the Little Missy all by herself, though." He glanced at me momentarily, and my heart sunk a little more.
"We're going to look for him," I said, somehow managing to put some strength in my voice.
"Hey, wait a minute," Sanosuke said incredulously. "You weren't thinking about going down there all by yourself, were you?" Sanosuke actually seemed amused, but sarcasm floated into his voice. "Sometimes women think they can do everything by themselves…" he muttered. "So who were you planning on taking with you, Megumi?"
"Hey, I'll have you know-" I said, my anger flaring.
"Now wait just a minute, Missy," Sanosuke interrupted, lifting one of his hands. "I thought you had more sense than this. Hey, I might be an idiot sometimes, but I do have more sense than you two, do. First of all, Megumi has patients to care for here, second of all-" Sanosuke's eyes locked with mine. "Kenshin left you behind for a reason."
"He-" I began, swallowing. "He thought he was ruining things for me."
"You know how Kenshin is," Sanosuke said. "All his "I say" and all that kind of stuff. He does things the way he things are best for you. He left you behind because he knows that it's dangerous down there."
"Well?" I said, voice piping up. "If he's sacrificing his life for me, I can sacrifice mine for him!"
"He doesn't want you to, Little Missy," Sanosuke said, looking serious. "Besides… he could be anywhere down south right now. He could be in the middle of battle right now." Sanosuke replied, suddenly seeming to look past me and into some battlefield. "The best you can do, is keep faith in him and stay alive for him."
"And what do you propose to do?" Megumi said, crossing her arms.
"Me?" Sanosuke said. "I'm going to do the same thing. What? You don't actually think I'm too much of a coward to go out there, do you? I would, if I could."
"Well!" Megumi cried. "What a nice little case of male sexism!" she said bitterly. "You seem to think I'm not equipped to go out into the battle, and that you are? Hey, listen, boy, I have gone through lots of things worst than that so you just think before you start trying to say you're better than me!"
"Hey," Sanosuke said, grinning. "No need to get all jittery now because of a little said fact of truth."
"GAH!" Megumi picked up a pillow out of somewhere and threw it at Sanosuke. He blocked, and laughing, threw it back at her. Surprisingly, though, Katsu caught it. He regarded the two of them with a small smile.
"I surely would not want my abode to be ransacked, so if you please, do not throw things inside of my apartment," he said good-naturedly. Then he threw the pillow back at Sanosuke roughly.
"Hey, watch what you do, idiot," Sanosuke said, smiling.
"You're the one who's the big jerk, throwing stuff at a woman," Katsu said smugly.
"You're the same idiot you've always been, Katsu," Sanosuke said in a friendly tone.
"And you're even bigger of a jerk," Katsu replied.
For some reason calling each other "big jerk" and "idiot" seemed to be considered as affectionate terms of friendship. I blinked. It must have been something from old times.
I talked with Katsu and Sanosuke for a few more moments- Katsu and Megumi seemed to get along excellently, or maybe it was just because of that little joke Katsu made at Sano- and then I decided to go home. I had thought that Megumi would accompany me, but she decided to stay at Katsu's place and talk. It was all perfectly fine with me- I was extremely bright and happy, and so almost nothing could ruin my mood.
I walked happily back to the dojo, stopping in the marketplace for a few choice vegetables and a small bucket of tofu. Then I went on my way.
This time, I did not get attacked. Well, if someone actually had the nerve to ambush me again, I'd give him a good whack over the head with a bucket of tofu!
I walked to the dojo, whistling softly to myself. I still had a few minutes before I needed to start getting dinner ready, so I took a few minutes to practice with my bokken. It helped me to focus and concentrate all my thoughts on the most important things. I felt that I got a quite good workout, as well as increasing my skill a bit with the bokken. I would have to do some teaching over at some of the other schools to make some money.
I took a quick bath, and then cooked up a quick dinner for one of rice and vegetables, with a little tofu. I ate it, thinking as I chewed.
After dinner, I sat down on the steps of the dojo and watched the sunset. When it became too dark to remain, I finally went into my rooms. Before I reached for my kimono ribbon to untie the thing, when I felt that there was another presence in the room. I froze. Then, at the right moment, I grabbed up my bokken and flipped around, ready to give the person a good whacking.
"Hey it's just me!"
The figure yelled just in time, and I was startled. I quickly lighted a candle, and as it bathed the room in dim yellow light, I could make out the person- Kazuma Zhang.
"Kazuma!" I yelled. "What the h -? What are you doing here?"
He put his hands in his pockets and looked down a bit shamefully.
"I did not mean to scare you, Kaoru-chan."
"You did not startle me!" I exclaimed, a bit heatedly. "I nearly hurt you."
"Hai," Kazuma said, smiling up at me. "I just had to see you. You were gone all day, and I guess it's a bit odd for me."
I nodded a bit.
"Well," he said, a grave look displayed in his gold brown eyes. "How did it all go? You seemed pretty happy, so I assumed well." Yet for some reason, Kazuma looked worried.
"It went well," I said, looking at Kazuma very carefully. "Sano and I are friends again."
Kazuma nodded. He looked around a bit.
"Well…" he started. "Good night, Kaoru-chan," he said.
I nodded to him. I saw a… need in his eyes, though. He began to walk past me, but then he stopped, and our eyes locked. He took my face in both of his hands and kissed me. A long, smooth, sensual kiss that seemed to last for half of eternity. I closed my eyes through it all, and when I opened them, the first thing I saw where two beautiful, gold brown eyes sparkling down at me. Yet even in the dim candlelight I could see worry in his face.
"I love you, Fragrant Flower," he breathed. His finger brushed my cheek. I touched his hand before he could take it away.
"I love you, too, Kazuma," I replied, giving his hand a squeeze. "Goodnight. Sleep easy."
Kazuma nodded a bit numbly, and then headed out the door. I wanted to kiss him again and tell him that everything would be okay. He seemed… uneasy and awkward. I did not know exactly what was wrong, but it worried me. I wanted him to be all right.
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gip-k's Post chapter Statement: -I'm really on a roll here! I feel like I can write a third chapter! I will try, but I'll submit these two first, okay?
I hope you enjoyed them both. Kenshin and Kazuma fans alike. I am doing this fiction according to the idea that keeps forming in my head, and when I've written all of it down on paper, you are going to love it! ^_^ I know all of you will. Thanks for all your wonderful support. I really am glad about.
(P.S. I can't remember what color Katsu's eyes are! Please tell me if I possibly made a mistake with that- I said they were reddish brown. I now think they're sea green. YIKES! Or maybe they were black? -_-)
Here are my special thanks.
nina
I am always as honest as possible. ^^" I'm really glad you've been enjoying the story despite the meanness to Kaoru. I really think the group depends on her and stuff. Thank you for reviewing
Waterflash
Yes, I'll tell you of each update! I'm glad you have been enjoying the story so much. I really enjoy writing it. Good luck with all your work.
Anna1919
Hey a new reader! Thanks for reviewing. Yes, I understand your sentiments. _ Is she supposed to like Kenshin? Must she like Kenshin? These are questions yet to be answered, so please continue reading! ^_^
Dragon Ladysupreme
Yes, Kenshin's evil lingo is quite addictive at times. ~.~ I noticed you don't like Miss Megumi Takani anymore? Yes, her ointment probably stings very bad, but you must know she's not a bad person!
Silver Hanyou
Yes, you hate Kazuma! Do not speak of it to me again, LoL! Wait… Golden, you hate him more, right? Silver is more placid about the matter. Well, then that's okay! ^_^ Don't hate him… he's really a good boy. You'll see.
Crazed Fanatic Anime Fan
You know I've got a feeling that if every single one of my reviewers stopped reading this, then you would still stick with me! I appreciate that very much. Thanks for reviewing!
Brittanie Love
A veteran reviewer! Hey, thanks for reading/reviewing. I'm sure glad you like this, and yes, I do enjoy placing people in suspense. ^_^
Female Hitokiri Battousai
Hey, do not sound so down. I'm sure glad you've been enjoying the story, and maybe this'll cheer you. ^^" No, it will probably make you mad because of Kazuma's apparent sadness. Just gingerly click the "Submit Review" button way over there and gimme a nice little review. XD
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That's everyone! And as for the missing reviewers… soujiro/kaoru fanatic, BubblyBoo, and others, two review alerts at once should catch your eye, yes? ^_^
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