King's Box
Lil-Sun-Rie
Author's Note: I hope you really like this fic and afterwards I hope you review.
Summary: Amber eyes glowing eerily in the dark shadows. All he knew was that a soft heart was not a heart at all. It must be of stone, so as to carve the law of living: The strongest survive. Will a light pierce the dark abyss they call insanity.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Rurouni Kenshin casts… although I would really love to own them…
King's Box
Chapter Eight: Life
Kaoru smiled at all the men as she wandered around the camp. Soon they would be on their way to Aoshi's village and she would see Saito Hajime. She really needed to get the box, or Hiko-sama's life is in danger.
She saw Soujiro smiling with the other men. He could tell that he was enjoying himself. She turned her head and saw Kenshin mounting his horse.
He was alone. No one could be found within a league of him. They all kept their distance.
Kaoru tentatively approached Kenshin, hoping that she wouldn't disturb him.
"Are you okay?"
Kenshin stared at Kaoru with amber eyes and shrugged. He turned and left to pick up his sleeping mat. Through the whole time he was silent.
That's how it was for the past few days. He didn't even look at Kaoru, but he could tell that she was striving to get his attention. On several accounts she bumped into him and when she did he just dusted himself and walked away.
Kaoru started to feel very depressed. She didn't know what happened to him or what she did; all she knew was that it had been very bad. Kaoru forced a smile on her face the entire day so that Soujiro and the others wouldn't know that something was wrong. This was her problem and she needed to solve it herself. The days passed slowly and Kaoru found herself daydreaming of how it would feel to be in his arms or how soft his lips would be against hers.
Kaoru felt disgusted with herself. Although they didn't go any farther than that, she knew she shouldn't be thinking of these things at all.
Kaoru felt that Yahiko seemed to get distant and more worried about her at the same time. It's strange, but that's how it felt to Kaoru.
Days past slowly and slowly, even Soujiro didn't seem to smile as often.
They rode by day and slept by night. Nothing ever happened, just the regular schedule.
On the fourteenth moon Kaoru saw that the road led to a mountain range. She knew that they were going to climb them; there was no other way and no time to go around it. She was happy to see that the road was still thick and she could ride on the side. The next morning started as usual.
The men ate and mounted their horses and covered all the evidence of their ever being there.
Kaoru nervously mounted up her horse. She could tell that this was the reason Yahiko seemed more distant. It was like he was getting some quiet time because he knew he wouldn't have any when she saw that they were going to scale a mountain.
Kenshin didn't know what was going on inside Kaoru's mind. She seemed nervous, but at the same time very angry.
Kenshin's eyes narrowed. They would be getting closer and closer to Kyoto, Aoshi's governed land.
He didn't know if he would be accepted or killed for being the infamous Battoussai (Will someone please tell me how to spell that? I think I spelt it five different ways in this story. ^__^)
Kaoru's phobia of heights was unbelievable. Yahiko remembered how sick she looked and how pale she was.
Yahiko felt confused. Why would someone so strong be afraid of something like heights? He remembered when she climbed down to help him and when she protected him from the bad men.
She had been so nice to him and yet he couldn't help her to get over her fear. Yahiko sighed in frustration; he really didn't know what he wanted to do.
Kaoru felt like crying as their horses slowly trotted up the road. She felt a lurch in her stomach. The slanting road made her head spin. She felt something flutter in her stomach as they climbed higher and higher.
Slowly the horses trotted up the steep path. She thought that she was going to die. She never liked heights and she didn't have to deal with them until now.
She felt tears form in her eyes and she swallowed, but her throat was dry. She felt her hands start to moisten.
Kenshin looked back and saw Kaoru at the end of the procession. She looked really sick and pale. Kenshin's amber eyes narrowed.
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Kaoru felt someone watching her. She lifted her head and blue eyes met amber. Then abruptly he turned away. Kaoru looked as his back with curiosity.
She was pulled out of her train of thought when Soujiro brought his horse close to hers.
"Kaoru, Aoshi-sama says that it will be cold up ahead. He told me to give you this."
Soujiro held out a simple fur lined coat for Kaoru to take it.
Kaoru reached for the coat and took it from Soujiro. Soujiro smiled and kept on riding next to her.
"You seem lonely."
Kaoru could only nod.
"Are you okay?"
Kaoru looked up at Soujiro and he smiled encouragingly.
"I really don't know." She paused… She didn't know what to say.
"Kenshin is ignoring me. I don't know what I did… but he seems to be mad at me about something."
Soujiro just smiled again. "He'll come around, I wouldn't worry about it."
Kaoru thought it over. "I guess your right."
She smiled at Soujiro.
It was so stupid of me not to have thought of talking to Soujiro. He always has the answers to my problems.
Kenshin felt something burning in himself when he saw Soujiro smiling at Kaoru.
"Damn," Kenshin muttered under his breath.
The Battousai was not getting soft, but that didn't explain why he felt protective of Kaoru. He heard Kaoru's light laughter and he felt something deep down in himself burn.
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Misao was riding in the front of the procession with Aoshi. She smile up at him and looked back at Kaoru.
"Aoshi-sama, is Kaoru-chan sick? She seems so pale."
Aoshi turned his head to look down at Misao.
"She's afraid of heights." He stated simply. Her brow furrowed and Aoshi got the sudden urge to smooth her forehead with his fingers. His fingers burned with a desire to touch her.
He looked ahead and pulled on his white trench coat. "Its getting cold. Better but on your coat Misao-dono.
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Kaoru saw everyone around her pull on her coat so she mimicked them. She pulled on the fur lined coat and reveled in how soft the fur was. She sighed in contentment, momentarily forgetting about the heights. The coat was soft and warm. It was amazing.
She snuggled into the coat and smiled. She opened her eyes and remembered that she was high up in a mountain. She shivered lightly in her chocolate colored coat.
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The procession stopped when the sun had hid herself amongst the rugged mountains. Kaoru slept close to the mountain wall, far away from the edge.
Aoshi sighed. Next was the difficult part. He looked past a few twist and turns of the road and saw the small wooden pulley. Would Kaoru actually be pleasant about being pulled up 100 hands (A/n: Hands mean feet, or something like that. Remember the time era. I don't think they use the metric system.)
Hopefully she will be.
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The next morning Kaoru woke up pleasantly. She smiled happily. She finally gotten over her fear, just riding next to the mountain wall. She didn't think she could go closer to the ledge, but at least she could now look out into the horizon.
Kaoru rode in the back of the procession once again with Soujiro at her side. They laughed and talked together, but by and by Kaoru would glance at Kenshin wondering what he was thinking of. She sighed out loud and turned her head to smiled at Soujiro.
She knew that her smile was totally fake, but at least it was something.
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End of Chapter Eight!
We have reached chappie eight! VICTORY DANCE! Go me! Go me! YAY!