**************************************************
The Tale of A Proper Marriage : Chapter 14
by white seraph
**************************************************
Kaoru was happily holding the small piece of charm she had gotten for her fiancé. Thinking back, she didn't know what possessed her to do such a thing, knowing he'd probably laugh at her and then throw it away, but then again, there is nothing harmful in doing a good deed as such, right? Tucking the charm into her sleeve pockets, Kaoru pushed those thoughts away and turned to Soujirou. "Alright, we can go up now."
Little did they know, that as they turned to the stairs that someone appeared from behind the thick supporting pillars. Kenshin had immediately spotted them at the main worshipping hall when he had come in a while later. Now, determined to know what the two were up to, he followed them up, despite feeling like a complete idiot.
Hiding behind the corner of the staircase, Kenshin spied on the two wearily. The place was as big as the first floor, but thankfully, the temple was rather empty during weekdays and there was hardly anyone around except for the priests, fortune tellers and a handful of visitors, including the two.
Though he was too far away to here the two converse, just the sight of them together already sickened Kenshin immensely; standing on the balcony side by side love a couple, the two acted as if totally ignorant of the chaperone's presence, who stood like a fool at behind them. Looking at them like that, he really wanted to go up and punch his cousin's face, and then throw that wench down the balcony, he really did, and if they had not come away from there and went around to the statues, he wasn't sure if he would have done what he wanted to.
Quickly scurrying to another corner of the room; behind the big stone statues of the deities, he continued with his spy.
"What should I ask the Gods to tell me?" He heard Kaoru asked as she took the fortune shaker* and knelt in front of the Gods.
"Ask them about your love life" Soujirou joked.
"Shh." She whispered before closing her eyes and started shaking.
Kenshin poked his head out from behind the masonry and watched her pick the stick up. "Eighty-seven. Lets go see what it says." She dragged herself up and gave Soujirou the thin stick, with the numbers engraved at the end.
"Alright" He followed Kaoru. "So what did you ask the Gods?" He asked, genuinely curious.
Kaoru smiled secretively. "That's for me to know and you to find out.".
And that was all he heard before they walked off. "damn" he muttered under his breath, as he tried futilely to strain his ears and pick up their conversation again, but failed. Suddenly, a voice from behind startled him.
"What on earth are you doing behind the Gods?!" An old man with beaming eyes looked into his eyes.
"shh!" Kenshin quickly glanced at Kaoru, who was fortunately on the other side of the room, busy finding the corresponding piece of paper for her drawn number. "I.I was just finding something!" Kenshin quickly found an excuse.
It seemed believable, because the priest walked away without replying, silently accepting his excuse. After that, Kenshin wisely moved away from behind the statue, to the pillar behind Kaoru.
"What does it mean?" He heard her ask the old woman.
"Lets see, number eighty-seven." The old woman flipped through pieces of paper put in chronological order. "Ah." She smiled "It's a good one.
"Furry, ugly green worms, drill and dig, day after day Yet th' time'll come when they turn't The flowery insects of May"
[I made it up it's not off some real Chinese fortune telling poems haha]
"What did you ask the Gods about?" The old woman gave her the paper after reading it out loud.
Kaoru shuffled, as if embarrassed, and mumbled something that Kenshin could not hear from behind. But thankfully, Kenshin's curiosity did not have to suffer from any suspense, as Soujirou had quiet unwittingly cried out.
"What?! I was only joking about the love life!" Soujirou said out loud enough for Kenshin to hear. [yes I know he's ooc but don't flame cos it just is -_-]
Kaoru glared at him, as if telling him to shut up, but when the old woman started decrypting the words from God, she turned her full attention away from soujirou.
"You are like a caterpillar, struggling under the earth alone, but the time has come, the man of your life has appeared a'fore you, and soon your miserable days under the earth will end." She said, staring at Soujirou as if assuming he was the one.
But she was not the only one who assumed so, behind the big pillars, Kenshin clenched his teeth as he heard the woman's words. He knew his cousin had this thing with Kaoru! Those stupid, illicit lovers! Damn them! He felt a sudden wave of humiliation sweeping over him as he recalled her seemingly prophecal words from yesterday night. He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger boiling in him. Wait, kenshin, just wait. You'll only need to wait till she leaves to cool all the humiliation and anger, he reminded himself. With that, he turned his heels and returned home, patiently anticipating for their return so he could ask them how their journey home was, and he would have the pleasure in listening to them say how the carriage wheel fell off and the whole vehicle tipped over in the middle of the street with everyone staring and pointing.
Was the wheel of fortune nice to him today or what? The sky had managed to hold it's rain long enough until he returned home safe and dry. Just after he stepped into the house, a clap of thunder initiated the downpour of a waterfall of rain. Kenshin smiled, now even the forces of nature are on his side and against the two adulterers.
Kenshin was totally overreacting over such a small thing, which was rather hypocritical anyway. There was no reason to act so sensitive over things as small and innocent as a friendship between his cousin and a fiancé he had forced himself to believe he didn't like, because he himself visited a lot of tea houses despite his parent's protests after the betrothal. Yet everything was all blinded by his pure jealousy over his cousin for getting the attention he never ever got from Kaoru.
If only he had thought about the potential disasters of his little prank, if only he was not blinded by his pride he would have spared everyone so much trouble and so much anxiety. If only.
* * * * * *
"It's pouring outside!" Kaoru exclaimed as she saw the outside of the temple all smothered into a blurry, grayish scene of the now half deserted town, as people all rushed back home.
"Yea.." Soujirou looked up "We should have brought an umbrella along." He sighed. "But it doesn't matter, the carriage is only across the street, we can run." He looked at the chaperone, asking for his opinion.
"Well I guess it's the last resort; Lady Himura did tell us to return as early as possible." He started, knowing he had missed out the point that running down the streets under the rain was not something nobles like them did.
But before he could tell them anymore, the two had run off already. "Wait." He shouted, but they didn't hear him, as they were already down across the street getting into the carriage. "Wait.."
Unfortunately, the driver, keen and eager to get himself out of the pouring rain had totally forgotten about the chaperone and pulled the carriage away before the poor man could reach them.
"Wait.!" Kaoru cried out from the window, "You forgot someone!" Yet the driver only heard the cry of the sky and the claps of thunder, and paid no heed to the passengers behind. "Oh dear, now.*sneeze*. what?" She finally gave up and pulled her head back to the compartment, but her whole body was drenching wet already.
Soujirou laughed "We'd better hurry home, or you'll catch a cold by the looks of it," He looked at Kaoru, wrapped in a soaking wet kimono, and already loosing colour.
She rolled her eyes as if he was overly pampering her. "I'm fine! Gosh look at yourself before you talk to me!" She pointed at his equally wet attires. She was about to say more when suddenly the whole carriage tumbled over, tossing Kaoru onto Soujirou, and her head slammed onto the seat. "Ouch" Kaoru rubbed her forehead, feeling a little dizzy and out of place.
"Are you alright?!" Soujirou waited patiently for her to pull herself up, away from him. "I wonder what has gone wrong."
There was a knock from outside the door. "Are you two alright in there?" It was the driver, he had no idea what had happened, just that the horse suddenly stopped and there was a loud crash.
"Yeah, we're fine." Soujirou answered while Kaoru was still trying to recuperate herself. "What happened?"
"For some strange reason, the wheels of the carriage disjoined." The man tried to explain "May be because it was sucked into the wet mud."
Soujirou pushed the door open and pulled himself out to see what the man was talking about.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Kaoru poked her head out, still not recovered from the spiltting headache, the rain that poured down onto her mercilessly did not make it any better.
"Kaoru, I don't think we can go home any time soon." He told her. "I think we'll have to get help somewhere, why don't you sit under the trees for now?" he pointed to the side of the road where a few trees that was so bare, they hardly protected the earth from the rain.
"What? Can't I come with you?" Kaoru didn't like the fact that she was treated like a weak girl who couldn't do a single thing.
But despite her weak protests they did not allow her to follow them, which probably would have been a better idea than having her wait under the rain, because the nearest village was quite far away, and it did take them quite a long time to walk on foot to get there, only to realize that they did not have any tools or spare carriages. They greeted the two men warmly and provided them dried clothes and hot tea.
"Thank you for all your generosity" Soujirou rose from the table. "But we really can't stay long, my friend is still waiting for us out there." They had been sitting there for quite some time now, and he was sure, if they did not leave any sooner, Kaoru might think something happened to them.
"Oh, no, it's still raining hard outside, why don't you stay until the rain stops?" The woman who invited them in effusively suggested.
"No, it's alright, but thank you very much anyway." The lad very politely replied.
"Very well then, if you insist on leaving then at least take with you an umbrella." She went into the small room next door and fetched them a small umbrella.
"Once again, thank you very much" Soujirou walked to the door way, with the driver, who acted mute, and left without turning back. When they were out of sight, Soujirou turned to the man. "We really don't have all day walking back empty handed, so why don't you go back to the Himura estate right now with this umbrella, and get people to come fetch us."
The man took the small umbrella "Right." He nodded, and with that he turned to the other direction that would lead him to his destination.
* * * * * *
Kenshin couldn't help but smile with excitement when he heard the gates open and servants rushing back and forth with dried clothes, hot tea and towels. So they had returned, he really wanted to go greet them and find out what exactly happened, why they were soaking wet, how their carriage failed to do it's job. But he just sat there, and refrained from doing anything of the sort, he didn't want anyone to think he cared for the two adulterers, no he didn't.
Yet is was hard to act as if nothing was happening, especially when he started hearing her mother's anxious voice from out side the main corridor. "How did it happen?!" Oh dear, will they be fine?!" He overheard her converse with another man.
"Don't worry madam" The voice replied "I've already gotten a group of horsemen to go fetch them. Hopefully, they will return, safe and sound before sunset."
Wait.what was going on?! It wasn't any think Kenshin expected. So they're not back yet? Why fetch them? Did they elope?! Unable to take it anymore, he came out to the door way. "What's going on?!"
His mother sighed. "Something had gone wrong, and..and they're just, they-"
"Just say it. They eloped, didn't they?! That's why you need several horsemen to go fetch them back, shame on them!" He cut in, out of pure assumption.
"Pardon me?! What elope" His mother rolled her eyes. "Why are you always assuming for the worst? They're only." She didn't have to explain anymore, the sound of galloping horses meant they had returned.
"Oh Soujirou! Are you alright dear?" Lady Himura rushed to the door way, where his dripping wet figure stood, shivering from the cold. "Get a hot bath ready." She ordered the servants who came with dried towels, after the left to carry out her orders, she turned to Soujirou "Where's Kaoru?"
"She fainted" He said briefly, not bothering to elaborate, and went past the two to get himself a warm bath.
"What.." Lady Himura looked confused and lost, and just as she was about to follow her nephew down the corner, a couple more horsemen appeared from the end of the corridor, at the main doorway, one was carrying Kaoru, who looked as lifeless as the dead.
* * * * * * *
* damn I don't know if this think existed in ancient japan; but it sure did back in ancient china. What you do is, you get this tube that that contains 99 sticks, and you shake it in front of your deity, at the same time you ask the deity for your fortune, and you do this until you shake one stick out of the bamboo tube. Go to the fortune telling table and tell them the number on your stick and they give you this piece of paper that corresponds to the number on the stick (yes there are 99 different ones) they vary from "ill fortune" to "alright" to "good fortune" and there's this cryptic poem on the paper that supposedly describes your fortune.
The Tale of A Proper Marriage : Chapter 14
by white seraph
**************************************************
Kaoru was happily holding the small piece of charm she had gotten for her fiancé. Thinking back, she didn't know what possessed her to do such a thing, knowing he'd probably laugh at her and then throw it away, but then again, there is nothing harmful in doing a good deed as such, right? Tucking the charm into her sleeve pockets, Kaoru pushed those thoughts away and turned to Soujirou. "Alright, we can go up now."
Little did they know, that as they turned to the stairs that someone appeared from behind the thick supporting pillars. Kenshin had immediately spotted them at the main worshipping hall when he had come in a while later. Now, determined to know what the two were up to, he followed them up, despite feeling like a complete idiot.
Hiding behind the corner of the staircase, Kenshin spied on the two wearily. The place was as big as the first floor, but thankfully, the temple was rather empty during weekdays and there was hardly anyone around except for the priests, fortune tellers and a handful of visitors, including the two.
Though he was too far away to here the two converse, just the sight of them together already sickened Kenshin immensely; standing on the balcony side by side love a couple, the two acted as if totally ignorant of the chaperone's presence, who stood like a fool at behind them. Looking at them like that, he really wanted to go up and punch his cousin's face, and then throw that wench down the balcony, he really did, and if they had not come away from there and went around to the statues, he wasn't sure if he would have done what he wanted to.
Quickly scurrying to another corner of the room; behind the big stone statues of the deities, he continued with his spy.
"What should I ask the Gods to tell me?" He heard Kaoru asked as she took the fortune shaker* and knelt in front of the Gods.
"Ask them about your love life" Soujirou joked.
"Shh." She whispered before closing her eyes and started shaking.
Kenshin poked his head out from behind the masonry and watched her pick the stick up. "Eighty-seven. Lets go see what it says." She dragged herself up and gave Soujirou the thin stick, with the numbers engraved at the end.
"Alright" He followed Kaoru. "So what did you ask the Gods?" He asked, genuinely curious.
Kaoru smiled secretively. "That's for me to know and you to find out.".
And that was all he heard before they walked off. "damn" he muttered under his breath, as he tried futilely to strain his ears and pick up their conversation again, but failed. Suddenly, a voice from behind startled him.
"What on earth are you doing behind the Gods?!" An old man with beaming eyes looked into his eyes.
"shh!" Kenshin quickly glanced at Kaoru, who was fortunately on the other side of the room, busy finding the corresponding piece of paper for her drawn number. "I.I was just finding something!" Kenshin quickly found an excuse.
It seemed believable, because the priest walked away without replying, silently accepting his excuse. After that, Kenshin wisely moved away from behind the statue, to the pillar behind Kaoru.
"What does it mean?" He heard her ask the old woman.
"Lets see, number eighty-seven." The old woman flipped through pieces of paper put in chronological order. "Ah." She smiled "It's a good one.
"Furry, ugly green worms, drill and dig, day after day Yet th' time'll come when they turn't The flowery insects of May"
[I made it up it's not off some real Chinese fortune telling poems haha]
"What did you ask the Gods about?" The old woman gave her the paper after reading it out loud.
Kaoru shuffled, as if embarrassed, and mumbled something that Kenshin could not hear from behind. But thankfully, Kenshin's curiosity did not have to suffer from any suspense, as Soujirou had quiet unwittingly cried out.
"What?! I was only joking about the love life!" Soujirou said out loud enough for Kenshin to hear. [yes I know he's ooc but don't flame cos it just is -_-]
Kaoru glared at him, as if telling him to shut up, but when the old woman started decrypting the words from God, she turned her full attention away from soujirou.
"You are like a caterpillar, struggling under the earth alone, but the time has come, the man of your life has appeared a'fore you, and soon your miserable days under the earth will end." She said, staring at Soujirou as if assuming he was the one.
But she was not the only one who assumed so, behind the big pillars, Kenshin clenched his teeth as he heard the woman's words. He knew his cousin had this thing with Kaoru! Those stupid, illicit lovers! Damn them! He felt a sudden wave of humiliation sweeping over him as he recalled her seemingly prophecal words from yesterday night. He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger boiling in him. Wait, kenshin, just wait. You'll only need to wait till she leaves to cool all the humiliation and anger, he reminded himself. With that, he turned his heels and returned home, patiently anticipating for their return so he could ask them how their journey home was, and he would have the pleasure in listening to them say how the carriage wheel fell off and the whole vehicle tipped over in the middle of the street with everyone staring and pointing.
Was the wheel of fortune nice to him today or what? The sky had managed to hold it's rain long enough until he returned home safe and dry. Just after he stepped into the house, a clap of thunder initiated the downpour of a waterfall of rain. Kenshin smiled, now even the forces of nature are on his side and against the two adulterers.
Kenshin was totally overreacting over such a small thing, which was rather hypocritical anyway. There was no reason to act so sensitive over things as small and innocent as a friendship between his cousin and a fiancé he had forced himself to believe he didn't like, because he himself visited a lot of tea houses despite his parent's protests after the betrothal. Yet everything was all blinded by his pure jealousy over his cousin for getting the attention he never ever got from Kaoru.
If only he had thought about the potential disasters of his little prank, if only he was not blinded by his pride he would have spared everyone so much trouble and so much anxiety. If only.
* * * * * *
"It's pouring outside!" Kaoru exclaimed as she saw the outside of the temple all smothered into a blurry, grayish scene of the now half deserted town, as people all rushed back home.
"Yea.." Soujirou looked up "We should have brought an umbrella along." He sighed. "But it doesn't matter, the carriage is only across the street, we can run." He looked at the chaperone, asking for his opinion.
"Well I guess it's the last resort; Lady Himura did tell us to return as early as possible." He started, knowing he had missed out the point that running down the streets under the rain was not something nobles like them did.
But before he could tell them anymore, the two had run off already. "Wait." He shouted, but they didn't hear him, as they were already down across the street getting into the carriage. "Wait.."
Unfortunately, the driver, keen and eager to get himself out of the pouring rain had totally forgotten about the chaperone and pulled the carriage away before the poor man could reach them.
"Wait.!" Kaoru cried out from the window, "You forgot someone!" Yet the driver only heard the cry of the sky and the claps of thunder, and paid no heed to the passengers behind. "Oh dear, now.*sneeze*. what?" She finally gave up and pulled her head back to the compartment, but her whole body was drenching wet already.
Soujirou laughed "We'd better hurry home, or you'll catch a cold by the looks of it," He looked at Kaoru, wrapped in a soaking wet kimono, and already loosing colour.
She rolled her eyes as if he was overly pampering her. "I'm fine! Gosh look at yourself before you talk to me!" She pointed at his equally wet attires. She was about to say more when suddenly the whole carriage tumbled over, tossing Kaoru onto Soujirou, and her head slammed onto the seat. "Ouch" Kaoru rubbed her forehead, feeling a little dizzy and out of place.
"Are you alright?!" Soujirou waited patiently for her to pull herself up, away from him. "I wonder what has gone wrong."
There was a knock from outside the door. "Are you two alright in there?" It was the driver, he had no idea what had happened, just that the horse suddenly stopped and there was a loud crash.
"Yeah, we're fine." Soujirou answered while Kaoru was still trying to recuperate herself. "What happened?"
"For some strange reason, the wheels of the carriage disjoined." The man tried to explain "May be because it was sucked into the wet mud."
Soujirou pushed the door open and pulled himself out to see what the man was talking about.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Kaoru poked her head out, still not recovered from the spiltting headache, the rain that poured down onto her mercilessly did not make it any better.
"Kaoru, I don't think we can go home any time soon." He told her. "I think we'll have to get help somewhere, why don't you sit under the trees for now?" he pointed to the side of the road where a few trees that was so bare, they hardly protected the earth from the rain.
"What? Can't I come with you?" Kaoru didn't like the fact that she was treated like a weak girl who couldn't do a single thing.
But despite her weak protests they did not allow her to follow them, which probably would have been a better idea than having her wait under the rain, because the nearest village was quite far away, and it did take them quite a long time to walk on foot to get there, only to realize that they did not have any tools or spare carriages. They greeted the two men warmly and provided them dried clothes and hot tea.
"Thank you for all your generosity" Soujirou rose from the table. "But we really can't stay long, my friend is still waiting for us out there." They had been sitting there for quite some time now, and he was sure, if they did not leave any sooner, Kaoru might think something happened to them.
"Oh, no, it's still raining hard outside, why don't you stay until the rain stops?" The woman who invited them in effusively suggested.
"No, it's alright, but thank you very much anyway." The lad very politely replied.
"Very well then, if you insist on leaving then at least take with you an umbrella." She went into the small room next door and fetched them a small umbrella.
"Once again, thank you very much" Soujirou walked to the door way, with the driver, who acted mute, and left without turning back. When they were out of sight, Soujirou turned to the man. "We really don't have all day walking back empty handed, so why don't you go back to the Himura estate right now with this umbrella, and get people to come fetch us."
The man took the small umbrella "Right." He nodded, and with that he turned to the other direction that would lead him to his destination.
* * * * * *
Kenshin couldn't help but smile with excitement when he heard the gates open and servants rushing back and forth with dried clothes, hot tea and towels. So they had returned, he really wanted to go greet them and find out what exactly happened, why they were soaking wet, how their carriage failed to do it's job. But he just sat there, and refrained from doing anything of the sort, he didn't want anyone to think he cared for the two adulterers, no he didn't.
Yet is was hard to act as if nothing was happening, especially when he started hearing her mother's anxious voice from out side the main corridor. "How did it happen?!" Oh dear, will they be fine?!" He overheard her converse with another man.
"Don't worry madam" The voice replied "I've already gotten a group of horsemen to go fetch them. Hopefully, they will return, safe and sound before sunset."
Wait.what was going on?! It wasn't any think Kenshin expected. So they're not back yet? Why fetch them? Did they elope?! Unable to take it anymore, he came out to the door way. "What's going on?!"
His mother sighed. "Something had gone wrong, and..and they're just, they-"
"Just say it. They eloped, didn't they?! That's why you need several horsemen to go fetch them back, shame on them!" He cut in, out of pure assumption.
"Pardon me?! What elope" His mother rolled her eyes. "Why are you always assuming for the worst? They're only." She didn't have to explain anymore, the sound of galloping horses meant they had returned.
"Oh Soujirou! Are you alright dear?" Lady Himura rushed to the door way, where his dripping wet figure stood, shivering from the cold. "Get a hot bath ready." She ordered the servants who came with dried towels, after the left to carry out her orders, she turned to Soujirou "Where's Kaoru?"
"She fainted" He said briefly, not bothering to elaborate, and went past the two to get himself a warm bath.
"What.." Lady Himura looked confused and lost, and just as she was about to follow her nephew down the corner, a couple more horsemen appeared from the end of the corridor, at the main doorway, one was carrying Kaoru, who looked as lifeless as the dead.
* * * * * * *
* damn I don't know if this think existed in ancient japan; but it sure did back in ancient china. What you do is, you get this tube that that contains 99 sticks, and you shake it in front of your deity, at the same time you ask the deity for your fortune, and you do this until you shake one stick out of the bamboo tube. Go to the fortune telling table and tell them the number on your stick and they give you this piece of paper that corresponds to the number on the stick (yes there are 99 different ones) they vary from "ill fortune" to "alright" to "good fortune" and there's this cryptic poem on the paper that supposedly describes your fortune.
