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The Tale of A Proper Marriage : Chapter 17

by white seraph

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WARNING: FLUFF AHEAD! Like this chapter has nothing BUT fluff so don't read it if you hate lovey dovey stuff!

"What.what are you doing at this hour of the night?" He managed to ask, as the girl walked in. He silently thanked the dark for concealing his wounds so well.

"I was up to get a cup of water." She replied briefly before asking the same question herself. "Where have you been all day? Your mother was very anxious of your disappearance!" She hissed quietly. "And you didn't even bother to make your own bed!"

That was when she smelt it; the metallic scent of blood. Confused, she furrowed her eyebrows, trying to concentrate on him. It was hard to see in the dark, but after observing his slumped body, she saw the darker shades of busies and the dried cakes of blood. "You..you're hurt" She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "What..what happened?"

"Don't you pretend to care, go away." He hissed dangerously quiet

But she seemed deaf to his words, "I think I'll get Lady Himura" She turned, and was about to leave when she felt a rough tug by the sleeve of her nightgown.

"Don't" He whispered, pleadingly. The dull amber eyes looked up at her standing body, as if begging her not to tell anyone.

Kaoru sighed, and shook her head at the sight, "I'll be back in a moment" She said, pulling her sleeve from his clutch, and disappeared into the dark hallway.

His head fell onto the cold floor. She's going to tell mother. Kenshin squinted his eyes, not wanting to believe that the girl was so hard on him, she didn't understand, she wouldn't listen to him..she just had to be the good girl and impress her mother in law, but then he shouldn't have had hopes in her in first place.

Kenshin's mind drifted on, lamenting the girl, and it was only when he heard the sliding of the door that he realized she had returned.alone.

She knelt beside him, and put a basin of water on the table. "Shh" She cooed, brushing his hair as if he were her little baby. "I promise I will not tell Lady Himura?" She whispered into his ear, before pulling him up into a sitting position.

He silently compiled, not knowing what to say. After all, he had thought her wrong, thought her evil, menacing, stupid, but here she was, dressing his wounds herself, since he stubbornly refused to wake anyone up at this hour of the night just because he came home like a child who just fought with some friends. What she would think!

Kenshin flinched, and bit his lip at the sudden sting on his arm; he looked down, to see the girl, very gently, cleansing the cut on his arm, dipping ever so slowly, ever so lightly onto the bloody skin, as if it was the most fragile object she ever touched.

As if sensing his stare, Kaoru very unexpectedly stopped at her ministration, and looked up, facing him. "What?"

"N..Nothing" Kenshin replied. Dammit, another mistake. He chastised himself inwardly, thinking how awkward he must have looked. He breathed out deeply; relieved from the pain as he felt Kaoru's cold breath scrapping onto his wound, before wrapping it slowly with thin strips of clean cloth. But even after her attention drew back to the now bloody cloth, dipping it in the cold water, she remained silent. Awkwardly silent.

Not knowing how to deal with the situation, Kenshin decided it was best to remain silent. He continued to stare at the girl, observing her every action in detail. Her small hand curled into a tight ball to squeezing the water out, and then, she pulled his gi down without permission, revealing yet another bloody wound. There was no sign of surprise on her face, in fact, there was no sign of anything except for how focused she looked; eyebrows furrowed, eyes half squinting. But what did he expect? Without any lamps, she only depended on the dim moonlight.

Kenshin could no longer resist it, the question was almost on his lips now, but he couldn't find the right chance to ask, for she never looked him in the eye, to his disappointment.

Suddenly, Kaoru stood up, holding the basin and strips of bandage. And Kenshin, thinking she was leaving now, was deeply disappointed that he did not ask what he wanted to, for it would forever remain a mystery to him if he did not ask now.

Luckily, it was not as he guessed. Kaoru stood, and walked to his behind in order to the nasty slash on his shoulder blade. Kenshin knew he did not want to delay the suspense any longer.

"Why" He asked, his voice, quiet and deep, but rang loud in the noiseless study room.

"hm?" She continued to dab on the skin behind his back with the cloth. There was no sign of confusion, no sign of interest, no sign of nothing.

Kenshin sighed, both out of pain and impatience. "Why do you do this?" He asked again, this time elaborating it enough for her to comprehend his question.

This time, she didn't even reply, wrapping the strips of dried cloth over his shoulder and under his arm, Kaoru continued with her work as if the question was unasked, and his voice unheard. Kenshin wasn't comfortable with the fact that she didn't reply, thinking her arrogant once again.

However, after he felt her nimble hands, tying a tight knot on the bandage, she proved him wrong once again. "Because" She said, standing up, and moving back to the front, facing him. "I don't want to marry a man with scars all over his body." She finished off, sitting down so she was once again eye level with him.

Somehow, he was not satisfied with her answer, and was about to question her again, but before she spoke before he did. "Turn your head a bit." She murmured softly, her cold hand touching his check, just below his bruised cheekbone, examining the wound. The blood was not from his cheek. Kaoru's finger ran up his cheek, trailing the dried blood stains, and finding another, more severe wound on his hairline. Someone, her touch sent shivers down his spine.

"So what happened?" Kaoru finally asked as she squeezed the water out of the cloth again, before rubbing it lightly on his face removing the sticky, dirt that mixed with his dried blood.

"I.I just got into a fight." He replied, not wanting to tell her the full story and the reasons behind the fight.

"I see." She replied, with little interest, and returned attention back to his forehead, unaware that he was still staring at her, studying her deep blue eyes that was reflecting the silvery moonlight, making them look like glassy blue gems. That was the first time Kenshin had truly examined her eyes, it was also the first time he noticed how mesmerizing and beautiful they were, to look at.

Suddenly, he tore his gaze away, telling himself silently how foolish and rude it was himself to stare at her for such a long time while she was trying to nurse his injuries.

Or at least that was what he wanted to believe.

In truth, Kenshin innately knew, the situation was like a kid trying to play near a pit. The more he wanted to look into her eyes, the more attraction he felt. And he was not prepared to give this part of himself to anyone yet.

Kenshin felt strange, he did not even know exactly how he felt. He was relieved because she did not pursue on the subject, did not press him to tell her what really happened. But again, Kenshin felt disappointment because of her seemingly uninterested attitude toward him.

But before he could have his thoughts settled, Kaoru got up. "It's all done." She dropped the ball of cloth into the large bowl of water. "Nursing the wounded isn't exactly my expertise, but I'm sure it will do for tonight." She said, wiping her damp hands onto the white gown she donned.

"Thank you." Kenshin murmured genuinely.

"Oh? Am I hearing things or did you just thank me?" Kaoru smiled, she was glad he at least had the gratitude to thank her. unfortunately, he was unable to see the smile on her face, because she stood up, and walked to the cupboard behind him to pull out his futon and pillow block. "Now, now, without the rest, no matter how strong you are, you will never recover."

Kenshin very docilely slipped into the bed she made for him, he didn't know what to say, he obviously took Kaoru's previous comment quite seriously. He watched as her dim shadow crouched, as she pulled the blanket over his body. "Alright then, good night and sweet dreams." She said, and picked the bowl of water to leave.

At hearing her footsteps going further and further, Kenshin's heart felt a foreign sense of discomfort "Wait-" He turned his body to the side, to where she was.

Kaoru spun around.

"Can.Can you stay with me for the night?" the words sputtered out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Kaoru furrowed her eyebrows, not quite catching his question. "Pardon me?"

"I..I" He sighed. "Nevermind. Goodnight to you, too."

Without another word, she stepped out of the room, and sliding the door shut, leaving him all alone to his own thoughts.

It was rather ironic how he tried to hurt Kaoru by doing all this, but only ending up hurting himself and needing her to care for him.

And the unexpected thing was, she did, and without any rewards or such in return. The girl simply did it out of her good will and generous nature. Kenshin was starting to doubt the validity of his prejudice toward her, the more he got to know this girl, the he understood she was nowhere near as bad as he thought she was.

Kenshin would never let the world know, but he was starting to like this girl. He really was.

Perhaps the marriage would turn out fine after all. Perhaps.

A/N: sorry that was really short, and of pure waff that doesn't get the story anywhere *sigh* but I enjoyed writing it .

NEXT TIME: While Kenshin is, believe it or not, helplessly falling for Kaoru, the girl has finally come up with the perfect plan to extricate them both from the marriage. Hm..will Kenshin let her plan be carried out?