LA! LA! LA! LA! LA!
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I'm just a fan writing for my own amusement.
Chapter 6
Sanosuke was walking around the dojo looking for any one. He didn't want to exert himself by shouting out the residence' names so he just sauntered about. As he neared the courtyard he could hear the sound of wood banging on wood. He entered the courtyard to find Yahiko practicing by himself.
"Hey Yahiko," Sano called out.
Yahiko stopped practicing to spare a hand to wipe his brow. "Yeah?"
Sano walked over to the boy. "Where is everybody?"
Yahiko finished off his last swing and put his bokken point down into the ground to lean on it. "Dunno."
Yahiko noticed that he hadn't seen Kenshin or Kaoru since lunchtime. He had spent the afternoon doing chores for Megumi at the clinic. When he had come home he found some food on the stove. He finished cooking it, ate and then started practicing. He had wanted some free time to brush up on a swing that was a bit difficult for him. That was one reason he hadn't noticed the absence of anyone.
Yahiko pondered one last moment before he remembered seeing some vague image of people walking by him while he was in the furrows of practice. "Huh, I think they're home. I'm not sure."
"C'mon, let's go check." Sano said leading off into the house, Yahiko following closely behind.
No one had turned on any of the lights. It was late in the day now so the hallways were a bit dark.
"Where are we going?" Yahiko asked after stabbing his toe for the fifth time.
"Hello boys," came a creep voice from across the hallway.
Yahiko jumped into Sano causing him to fall forward towards the voice. They tumbled to the ground together. Three bodies, two of which were males and the other was female.
"Ugh! Get off me!" Shouted an angry voice that Sano and Yahiko thought sounded like Megumi.
They unorderly picked themselves up. Megumi light a candle when she found one.
She looked from Sano to Yahiko then back again. "Where is Kenshin? Or Kaoru?"
"I don't know?" Was the reply from both of them.
"Let's check their rooms. Maybe they retired early." Megumi offered walking to Kenshin's room first closely followed by Sanosuke and Yahiko. They reached Kenshin's room in silence. Megumi slowly slid the shoji open and peeked her head into t the room. She didn't see any one just an immaculately clean room. "No ones here," she whispered and continued on in silence to Kaoru's room.
They saw that the lights where on in Kaoru's room so they stopped but before Megumi opened the door she put her eat against the door.
"What are you doing?" whispered Yahiko.
Megumi put a finger up to her lips for silence and continued listening. After a while Sanosuke put his ear on the door too.
"Aw man! You too Sano," Yahiko said.
"Shh!"
Yahiko, now curious, leaned against the door too but put too much pressure on the door. Sanosuke, Megumi and Yahiko went crashing through into Kaoru's room. Kenshin and Kaoru jumped at the sudden intrusion. Kenshin moved over to help up Sano and Megumi, Kaoru went over and pulled up Yahiko.
"What are you guys Doing?" exclaimed Kaoru as she took in her broken door.
Megumi looked embarrassed, while Sanosuke mumbled something about a fox being too curious for her own good and Yahiko looked flustered at having Sanosuke fall on top of him.
Megumi quickly recovered. "What are the two of you doing?" She asked innocently giving the room her full attention.
"I was telling Kaoru-dono something that I was." Kenshin answered back. Kaoru nodded in assent.
Yahiko was again curious, "what where you telling her?"
"Uh..." Kenshin stuttered out. He looked to Kaoru who was studying her kimono. "Sit down please and sessha will tell you." Kaoru glanced over at Kenshin but looked back to her kimono after a second.
Megumi looked a little uncertain but took a seat across from where Kenshin was. Sano and Yahiko followed suit sitting to each of her sides. Kaoru was sitting in a corner of her room while Kenshin was sitting close to the middle of it.
Kenshin didn't look directly at anyone, his gaze looking behind the heads of Sanosuke, Megumi and Yahiko.
"Sessha was telling Kaoru-dono about something that happened in sessha's past." Kenshin said, then sighed as if he would rather be somewhere else, anywhere else in the world besides sitting there in the middle of Kaoru's room. Megumi noticed all of the 'sessha's Kenshin was using, he normally didn't say that many in a day. "Sessha... sessha was... Sessha was married once. My wife Himura Tomoe, the wife I killed with my own hands. It began in the Bakumatsu, the story of the hatred behind this scar." His hand moved up to caress the scar that every one was always wondering about.
Megumi gasped in surprise, she looked to Kaoru to see how she reacted to this startling news. Kaoru was still looking at her kimono but she looked like she had already heard this and this was just a confirmation of what she heard before.
Sanosuke and Yahiko looked with horror at Kenshin. It was startling news to find out that Kenshin had had a wife but for him to tell them that he had killed her was more shocking.
Kenshin noticed tears leaking through Kaoru's now tightly closed eyes. He wanted to reach out to comfort her, to erase her worries but was afraid to. He didn't know how she would react. Would she treat him as the monster he is or would she love him like a newborn babe?