Hello Loyal Readers, the light of my bleary days! I'm back from my trip and I have Chapters 6 and 7 ready! The first thing I did when I got back was check if anybody thought to leave a message for me and…lo and behold… some wonderful people encouraged me to go on writing! I will. Believe you me, I will continue writing until all my fingers get so cramped that I'll have to use my toes to finish this fic! And yes, I did have a wonderful trip, even if it was sans the Internet and all.
Without rambling too much I just want to say thank you to: Houndingwolf, Fireruby, Innocence8 and Kaoru-chan21, for being the wonderful people that they are. May you all get a spiffy little convertible from Santa this Christmas!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. In a perfect world I would, but I live in the real world…and sadly I ain't got no money…so, it's utterly useless to sue me…but for good measure: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, but Nobuhiro Watsuki and a bunch of other people do…
And the craziness continues…
Promises from the PastKenshin looked at the object she was holding in her hands, and saw that it was a small rectangular black lacquered box.
Sayuri handed it to him, "My mother wanted to return this to you."
Kenshin accepted it. For a few seconds he just looked at the box.
Then he opened the lid and saw what was inside.
Swords and Laundry***
***
It has been three months since Tomoe's death.
Even though there was a new man to take Kenshin's place as the premiere assassin, Kenshin's skill and knowledge was still useful to the Ishinshishi. Both sides in the revolution wanted to win, and victory was a matter of determination, perseverance and skill. Everyday, there were skirmishes around Kyoto and the rest of the country, each side occasionally taking the upper hand. But it didn't matter who won the small battles. What mattered was who would win the war.
Kenshin couldn't wait for it to end. There had been too many deaths already…some caused by him, the Hitokiri Battousai.
He was tired. Tired of it all. Sometimes, he wished he could leave it all… Stick his sword in the ground and just walk away.
But he made promises… Promises he must keep…. Promises he will keep.
One was to Katsura. Another one was to make the people, who had used Tomoe as a pawn, pay.
Everyday, he did the best he could to keep his promises.
But when this would be over, he would keep another one. This was the promise he most fervently wanted to fulfill.
The promise he made to Tomoe… to give up his life as a swordsman and seek atonement for all the horrible things he had done.
But before that, he had to keep the first two.
That is why he was attending this meeting, held in a small teahouse in Kyoto.
Katsura had asked some of his trusted men to meet tonight, to make reports and to discuss strategy.
Most of the men attending Kenshin knew personally, since he had dealt with them before when he was doing a job.
Some, however, were unfamiliar to him, probably because they did not operate in Kyoto but in the nearby towns. After all, the Ishinshishi was a large unit and with hundreds of people working in the background.
Kenshin was sitting a little apart from the whole group, so he could observe the men at the meeting better. Although the Ishinshishi's members were fiercely loyal to their cause, there were always a few who would sell their loyalty for a price. Hadn't one of their most trusted men turned on them?
Kenshin still would feel rage at the man he had considered a friend, in a time when it was easier for him to make enemies. Maybe the lesson that he should learn there is 'know your friends well, for they might become your best enemies'.
After surveying the occupants of the room again, Kenshin sat back in a deceptively relaxed manner and stared at the floor in front of him. Anybody else would have thought that he was bored by the meeting, but Katsura, glancing at him, knew that Kenshin was completely aware of everything going on in the room.
The door slid open, and a person stepped into the room. The men, who were discussing things heatedly, did not notice this new person joining them, but Kenshin had noticed even before the door was opened. He looked up to see who it was and was momentarily shocked, when he saw that the person who had entered was the woman who had nursed him when he had been sick.
The last time he had seen her, she was walking down a street in Kyoto, the day when Kenshin had been assigned to kill Tomoe's fiancée. She had been in the fineries of a first class geisha. Other geisha's had been with her, but Kenshin had recognized her because she hadn't been wearing the makeup of a geisha. He had thought it odd then.
He also found it odd that he had the inexplicable urge to go to her and thank her for nursing him. He had been about to cross the street to follow his impulse when he had remembered her words.
***
Kenshin was sitting by the window playing with his spinning top. He watched as the toy went spinning round and round and round.
The door slid open, and somebody stepped inside. Kenshin didn't look up, for he already knew who it was. The woman who had forbidden him to call her by her name.
Ran… water lily, the symbol of purity.
"I see that you're feeling better," Ran said, standing by the books Kenshin had stacked against the wall.
Kenshin ignored her, picked up the now stationary top and made it spin again.
"It is a fitting toy for somebody who acts like a child," came the amused observation from Ran.
Kenshin glared at her, "Didn't I tell you time and time again that I don't want you here? Get out!"
But Ran just picked up one of the books, "Stop acting like a petulant child."
"Enough!" Kenshin had jumped up and reached for his sword. Advancing, he unsheathed it and in the blink of an eye he had the blade pressed against Ran's throat.
"Do you mean to threaten me with that sword?" Ran said with complete nonchalance.
Kenshin pressed it a little more into her skin, just enough for her to feel the pressure but not to draw blood. He wanted her to be afraid of him. Very afraid of him.
He was angry at her. Angry because she had ignored his command. Angry because even after he had told her in the rudest way possible to leave him alone, she had stayed and nursed him back to health, never once losing her temper.
He was angry at her because she brought out the beast in him. Angry because she had seen him vulnerable.
But most of all, he was angry at her because she had made him want her to take care of him.
He, the Hitokiri Battousai, Nightmare of Kyoto, had wanted her gentleness, because it felt…comforting.
And it had made him think of things he had never thought about before. Such as the simple pleasure a person could find from knowing that another person cared enough to brave vile tempers and nasty words.
"Do you know what I can do with this sword?" Kenshin snarled at her.
But Ran just looked at him, without so much as a flicker of fear in her eyes.
That enraged him even more. He was about to press his sword nearer to Ran's neck to nick her skin. He no longer cared if he drew blood or not. All he wanted was for this woman to respect him like the other people he knew respected the assassin.
But his sword hand suddenly went slack, and his sword hung limply in his hand. Only then did Kenshin realize that she was applying pressure on his wrists. It was the second time she had used that trick on him.
Kenshin stepped back and Ran let go of his wrists. For a moment, all Kenshin could do was look at her.
"Behind that sword, you're just a boy scared because he suddenly realized he got lost," Ran said to him in that gentle voice of hers.
"You're talking nonsense! You're just a woman! What do you know? Get the hell out!" Kenshin yelled at her, furious at her words.
Ran looked at Kenshin for a second, then turned to leave. But she had some last words for Kenshin.
"You threaten me we words, because you want me to be afraid of you... but the truth is, you are afraid of me… because I dare to defy you, I dare to confront you... And what is worse? I happen to be a woman…. When men cower in your presence, a mere woman dared to best you… A mere woman saw you vulnerable… And that scares you, because you realize that you're not invincible after all," Ran said softly.
"I'm not afraid of a mere woman!" Kenshin yelled at her back.
But Ran just chuckled, "I must warn you, Hitokiri Battousai. I may make you afraid, but someday, you'll meet a woman who will defeat you, strip you of all the armor you wrap yourself in as the Hitokiri Battousai and make you realize that you're a man…and vulnerable… You think us the weaker sex…but you don't know us enough to realize how much power we have."
Then she turned to look at Kenshin with sad eyes, "I already see that man…and he really is just a lost boy, trying to find his way back home…" Then she slid the door open and left, leaving Kenshin to stare at the open door.
***
Thinking of all the things that had happened since his last conversation with Ran, Kenshin realized that her words had become true. The Hitokiri in him had been defeated by a woman. But what Ran didn't know was that she was that woman. If it weren't for her, Kenshin would have probably never let Tomoe into his life.
From the first moment he had seen her, when she had told him that he caused blood to rain, she had intrigued him. When he normally would have dismissed her, or killed her even, Ran's words had echoed in his mind. His question of how a man could be held enraptured by a woman had been answered.
Because it would take them a single word, and a man would hold his breath to hear the next. Only a look, and a man would make a fool out of himself.
When he met Tomoe on that night, he had let himself stop long enough to really look at her. And found himself as vulnerable as any other man.
Even if Tomoe had made him want to change who he was, it had been Ran who made him stop long enough to let it all happen.
Again, the urge to thank her rose up in him. Maybe it was time to let her know of his gratitude.
Kenshin saw Ran sit down a little apart from the group, at the opposite side of the room. Tonight, she was dressed totally opposite to the last time he had seen her in full geisha gear. She was wearing a simple teal Kimono. But her innate grace made it look like she was wearing the most expensive and elaborately embroidered Kimono. Thanks to Tomoe, he was now able to appreciate a woman's subtle charms, such as her gracefulness and gentleness.
Then Kenshin saw Ran survey the room. When their eyes met, there wasn't even a flicker of emotion to indicate that she recognized him. Kenshin suddenly felt annoyed at her for ignoring him, when a minute ago he had decided to thank her for what she did for him.
But Kenshin ruefully remembered how rude he had been to her the last time they saw each other, and realized that he probably deserved that snub. Maybe it was time for him to apologize to her too.
The meeting had ended and most of the men were leaving. Kenshin stood up and waited for most of them to leave the room before he would walk over to Ran and talk to her. Most of the men said goodbye to him, and he gave a brief nod of acknowledgment in return.
Kenshin saw Ran stand up too. Afraid that she would leave the room before he had a chance to talk to her, he moved towards her. He stopped when he noticed that she wasn't leaving but rather was moving towards Katsura.
He saw Katsura break into a smile when he finally noticed Ran.
"I didn't think that you could make it tonight!" Katsura greeted her.
Ran smiled at him affectionately, "I told you I would come, and have I ever let you down?"
His smile turned affectionate as well, "Not once in all the years I have known you."
Then they started talking like two old friends.
Although it had been implied in one of their previous 'conversations', Kenshin was still surprised at the ease and familiarity of Katsura's and Ran's conversation. It bespoke of a long-standing, very close friendship, even if it was the first time for Kenshin to see them together.
Katsura then turned to him and waved him over.
When Kenshin was standing in front of them, Katsura said, "I believe you two have already met."
He looked from Kenshin to Ran. Kenshin was surprised again, when he saw Ran acknowledge the statement with a nod and a smile. He didn't expect her to acknowledge their acquaintance, especially after the snub earlier.
Burt she surprised him even more when she acknowledged it with words, "Himura-san and I had several interesting conversations together."
Looking at the expression on Ran's face, Kenshin couldn't see a trace of mockery, but he well knew what kind of 'conversations' he and Ran had.
"Yes, you have told me about them," was Katsura's congenial reply.
Looking at Katsura's face, Kenshin felt sure that his boss knew exactly what kind of conversations he and Ran had. This put him at a loss for something to say.
But Katsura saved him by saying, "Kenshin, I have a meeting in about an hour with Kuroi Takashi."
Katsura glanced at Ran, and Kenshin noticed that she had s stiffened at the mention of the other man's name. Kenshin could understand the reaction because rumor had it that Kuroi Takashi was a formidable man. He never met him personally, since the 'Black Eminence' only communicated through letters. That he was here in Kyoto was surprising. He must be here for something really important.
Only a few people in the Ishinshishi knew that Kuroi Takashi was the one who provided most of the money that kept the Ishinshishi working. His almost anonymity worked well for the royalists because it considerably eliminated the risk of the enemy killing him, which could contribute to the downfall of the royalists' cause. The 'Black Eminence's' role in the whole war may be only to provide money, but the truth was war cost money, and without it, it would be harder to win.
"I won't keep you long then," Ran said to Katsura. She had an expression on her face that Kenshin found odd. Defiance. That was what he saw as he looked at her.
Katsura said to Kenshin, "I need a favor from you."
Kenshin nodded and Katsura went ahead, "I need you to walk Ran home."
But Ran protested, "Don't be ridiculous, Kogoro! I don't need an escort to walk home. It would be better if you take Himura-san with you to guard you."
"Now Ran, you know I won't allow a lady to walk home all on her own! These are dangerous times, and dangerous things could happen," Katsura said.
Ran looked at him bemused, "You're kidding right?"
He shook his head to indicate he wasn't joking, and said to Kenshin, "Don't worry about me, Kenshin. Kuroi Takashi has sent escorts to bring me to him, so I won't be in any danger."
Kenshin nodded at him to indicate he would bring Ran home.
Ran looked like she had something to say in protest but Katsura forestalled her, "If you don't want Kenshin to take you home, you can always come with me to see him."
Instead of answering him, Ran turned to Kenshin and said, "We should be on our way, it's getting late."
Katsura's last statement and Ran's reaction to it made Kenshin curious. It implied that Ran knew Kuroi Takashi. But before Kenshin could give it more thought, Ran was already taking her leave from Katsura.
"I'll see you in a couple of days when you're not that busy," she said to Katsura.
He smiled at her affectionately, "We'll have dinner."
He glanced at Kenshin, bent and whispered in Ran's ear, "He's changed since the last time you've seen him."
Ran whispered back, "I've noticed."
Then Katsura whispered something in her ear again and Ran stepped back to look him in the face. Then she gave a small smile and a brief nod.
She turned to Kenshin standing by the door, "Shall we go?"
Kenshin nodded, looked at Katsura for other instructions before they left.
Katsura just said, "I'll send you a message."
Kenshin nodded again, slid open the door and stepped out first to check if it was safe. Sensing no threat, he motioned for Ran to come out. She stepped through the door and stood there smiling at Kenshin.
"You take your job very seriously," she said to him.
Kenshin just replied, "It's a serious job."
Then they started to towards the teahouse's main door to get outside. Kenshin wondered why Ran hadn't come with a coach, for it would have been easier for her to get around.
As if Ran had heard his thoughts, she said to him, "I don't like traveling in coaches, I find them stifling."
Standing outside, she turned to him and smiled politely, "You really don't have to walk me home if you don't want to. Katsura's just being overprotective. I'll be fine on my own."
But Kenshin looked at her sincerely as he somberly said, "I would be honored to walk you home."
Although Ran had noticed that Kenshin had changed since the last time she talked to him, his polite and very sincere words still took her by surprise. Looking at Kenshin, she noted that this was a different man she was looking at.
"You really have changed," she said to him.
Instead of replying to her statement, Kenshin said, "We should start walking."
"Yes," was all Ran said as she turned towards the direction of where she lived.
Kenshin and Ran were walking side by side, down the streets of Kyoto. It was a quiet night, very unusual for Kyoto since the revolution started. Only the occasional laughter coming from teahouses and the barking of dogs interrupted the calm. Kenshin and Ran kept their silence, lost in their own thoughts.
Ran suddenly broke the silence with, "It's unusually calm in Kyoto tonight."
"Yes it is," was Kenshin's somber reply.
"Nights like these could make us almost forget that we're in the middle of a war," she continued.
Kenshin just kept on walking. Ran glanced at him and said, "You can't wait for it to end."
It wasn't a question but a statement. Kenshin had a feeling that Ran understood how he felt about all this.
They continued walking in silence. Almost at the end of town, Ran stopped in front of a big wooden gate. Kenshin had thought that she was staying at a house for geishas. But this place looked like an ordinary dojo.
Ran opened the gate and then turned to Kenshin. He was about to take his leave when Ran stopped him with her words.
"What do you do during the day?" she asked.
Surprised at the totally unexpected question, Kenshin only answered, "Nothing."
"You don't sleep?" was her concerned question.
Thinking of what prevented him from sleeping, Kenshin replied, "Not much."
"Do you get bored?" was her next question.
Not sure where this was going, Kenshin just shrugged his shoulders.
Ran looked at him for a moment before saying, "If you want something to do, come here to see me tomorrow."
Kenshin just looked at her, and Ran smiled at him, "It's not a command. It's an invitation. One you can accept if you want to."
Then she stepped inside the gate. Before she closed it she said to Kenshin, "Kogoro won't be needing you tonight. Try to get some sleep." And then she closed the gate.
Kenshin stood there for a moment looking at the wooden gate, then he turned and walked towards the inn he was staying at.
***
It was barely seven in the morning, when Kenshin was standing in front of the same wooden gate as last night. He had tried to sleep but after two hours he woke up unable to get back to sleep. He had thought a walk would help him clear his mind. He'd been walking aimlessly around Kyoto, when he suddenly found himself standing in front of a familiar wooden gate. He wasn't even sure if he would have accepted Ran's invitation, but now that he was standing outside her house, the urge to accept it was big.
But it was too early, so Kenshin thought of going back to the inn and come back later. He turned toward the direction of his inn, when he saw an old man walking towards him, carrying two tofu buckets. The man stopped in front of the gate, put the buckets down and looked Kenshin over.
"You Himura?" the old man asked.
Kenshin just nodded. He was a bit surprised that the man recognized him.
The old man gave him the once over, then inclined his head towards the gate and said, "You better come in, she's expecting you."
"It's too early," was all Kenshin could say.
"For whom?" the old man asked before he went inside leaving the gate open.
Not sure if he should follow, Kenshin looked left, then right and then at the open gate. Making up his mind, he stepped inside and closed the gate. What he saw was a beautifully kept Zen garden to the right and a beautiful pond to the left. Then he saw Ran coming out of the house with a smile on her face.
"Ohayou de gozaru yo, Himura-san," she greeted politely.
"Ohayou de gozaru yo," Kenshin said in reply. He found it odd that Ran was using such antiquated language, but it somehow suited her, making her words even more regal, especially said in that soft voice of hers. He also felt that if she was being super polite to him that she deserved the same from him. And he liked the way 'de gozaru yo' sounded.
"Goro-san told me that you were here. Have you had breakfast yet?" she asked him.
Walking in the streets of Kyoto since dawn, Kenshin suddenly felt this enormous emptiness in his stomach that made him wish for food. He didn't want her to find out that he was hungry, but he knew that lying to her was no use.
"No, I haven't had breakfast yet," he said to her.
She motioned him inside, "Come in then. We'll have breakfast."
She waited by the door for Kenshin to go in first. He went in and she followed. Taking the lead, she showed him to the dining room, where the table had already been set for breakfast and two people were already sitting there. One was the old man from before and beside him was an old woman.
The woman was smiling at him but the old man was scowling. Ran made the introductions.
"I would like you to meet Nakajima Goro and his wife Sora," Ran said to Kenshin.
Sora inclined her head towards Kenshin and was still smiling, Goro just looked at him although the scowl on his face was gone.
Then Ran said to the two, "This is Himura Kenshin."
Kenshin bowed towards the two old people. He never bowed and never felt the urge to be overly polite, but somehow in the presence of Ran he felt that it was the appropriate thing to do.
After the introductions, Ran appointed Kenshin to a seat. Then she sat down herself.
Slightly bowing towards the table, she said, "Itadakimasu!"
Goro, Sora and Kenshin did the same. Then they began eating.
After the meal, Kenshin helped clean the table. Putting the dirty dishes in a tub full of warm water in the kitchen, Kenshin felt like scrubbing the dishes clean. Without giving it further thought, he folded his sleeves back and attacked the dirty dishes with a rag and some soap.
Ran was carrying the last of the dishes to the kitchen, when she saw Kenshin. Amused, she put the dishes she was carrying in the tub to soak with the others, picked up a clean cloth from a shelf and started drying the already cleaned dishes and putting them away. They worked in companionable silence.
When they were finished, Ran gave the cloth to Kenshin so he could dry his hands and said, "This isn't what I had in mind for you to do."
Drying his hands with the cloth, Kenshin shrugged, "I felt like doing the dishes."
"Sora-san thinks that you must be something of a saint for doing the dishes without being prompted," she said to him, "She tried to make Goro-san do them for over 40 years, and never once did he do them voluntarily. It usually takes a good whole of hour of nagging from Sora-san until he at least picks up a dish, she told me earlier when she came to report to me that the redheaded man was in the kitchen doing work."
Kenshin didn't know what to say so he kept silent.
"Come, I'll show you what I had in mind for you," Ran said, motioning him to follow her as she went out through the door in the kitchen.
Kenshin followed her to two large wooden tubs filled with water. Two tubs filled with what looked like blankets and pillowcases and other pieces of cloth were standing next to them. Ran turned to him and smiled.
"Laundry," was all she said.
Kenshin looked at the four tubs, at Ran, then at the four tubs again. He couldn't believe that Ran had asked him to come here to do laundry. It was not like he never had done laundry in his life. When he was still with his shishou, he used to do laundry for both of them. But that was something he had to do because there was no one else around to do it. No woman who would take care of it. But being asked over to help with laundry was absurd! This was woman's work! Even when he was with Tomoe, she did all the laundry, while he took care of the other manly chores around the house.
"I know what you're thinking," Ran said, "You're thinking 'What is wrong with this woman? She asks me over to do laundry? To do women's work?' I can tell you right now, that although it's called women's work, it's one of the most strenuous chores to do. It requires a lot of strength and patience."
Kenshin kept silent. He didn't want Ran to think that he was a weakling by refusing to do laundry, although he was really uncomfortable with it.
"I won't think any less of you, if you refuse to do it," she said to him.
That strengthened his resolve. He took his two swords and placed it near the kitchen, since it would be difficult to do laundry with two swords by his side. He stepped towards one of the tubs filled with water, pulled his sleeves back, and knelt in front of the tub. Ran smiled and followed him.
She took some of the laundry from one of the other tubs and placed it in the water to soak. Kenshin did the same thing.
"You must be wondering why I have so much laundry," Ran said as she started to lather a pillowcase with soap.
Kenshin did the same thing with a blanket. He did find it odd that three people could have so much laundry, especially when it consisted mostly of beddings.
"I was away for a few months, and had other people stay here. They left two nights ago when I arrived. Sora-san didn't get to the laundry yet, although I think it would be too much work for an old woman anyway."
They continued lathering up the laundry in silence. It was a beautiful morning. The early signs of spring were in the air. Birds were chirping and bees were buzzing in the nearby flower garden.
"Doing laundry is very relaxing, isn't it?" Ran asked him.
"Hai," was all Kenshin said.
"I like doing laundry because it helps me think. Some meditate, I do laundry. There's a lot of things you can figure out when you're doing laundry."
Kenshin was now scrubbing the lathered beddings and thought about Ran's words. And realized that they were true. There were a lot of things one could think about while one was doing laundry. Kenshin felt himself think about his life. How much of it he had wasted. How many other lives he had wasted. The newfound guilt was there again and he found himself scrubbing furiously at a stain on one of the white blankets.
Ran saw what he was doing and she spoke up, "You know, laundry is also a great metaphor for life."
Kenshin stopped his scrubbing to look at the stain that still was there.
Ran continued, "Some stains need only a few scrubs and they're gone. Other stains are a bit trickier to get out. While others take a long, long time to get out. But does the thing with the stain become anything less than what it is?…No."
"Does a blanket with a stain become anything else than a blanket? No. Or a dress with a stain, does it become anything less than a dress? No. Some people tend to see only the stain, what they don't see is what surrounds the stain. Usually it's something beautiful. With a little patience and frequent washing, even the most nastiest stain can fade."
"Wouldn't it be easier to just throw away the dress?" Kenshin asked, still looking at the stain.
"Yes it would, wouldn't it?" Ran replied, "Just throw away the stained cloth and buy something else…but that would also mean that you're throwing away the potential the stained piece has."
Ran held up a blanket, "A stained blanket could be cut up and sewn into pillow cases. A ruined silk Kimono can be cut up and sewn into a Kimono for a little girl. There are so many things you can still do…You can change something that was ruined and make it into something beautiful, something useful again…You'll always know that it came about because it had a stain, but eventually, the joy you take from that something new, the joy someone else gets from that something new will override the memory of that stain."
"What if the stain is too big? What if the whole piece is stained?" Kenshin asked.
Ran looked up at the sky before replying with, "I don't know. I have no answer for that."
She looked at the stain on the blanket that Kenshin was holding and looked at him and said, "But I don't see the whole piece stained. There's still so much potential for something beautiful there."
Kenshin knew that she wasn't talking about the blanket. She was talking about him. It felt strange that someone thought him worthy of something beautiful after all the horrible things he had done. After he had been so horrible to her. But it felt comforting to know that someone thought him still worthy, when he himself no longer did.
A little confused, all Kenshin could say was, "Arrigatou de gozaru."
Ran smiled at Kenshin's use of 'de gozaru', "You're welcome."
They continued doing the laundry in companionable silence again. Kenshin thought about Ran's words and about his future after the revolution. He made a promise to himself that he would do everything he could to become worthy again, even if he thought that it was an impossible task for someone as stained as he.
The laundry was finished and now the bedding and clothes were hanging on the bamboo poles, flapping slightly in the breeze. Kenshin had an overwhelming sense of accomplishment as he looked at the clean laundry.
"You know, one of the small pleasures in life is seeing clean laundry flapping in the breeze. It gives you such a sense of accomplishment," Ran said as she stood there just like Kenshin.
Kenshin agreed with, "Hai."
"It also fills you with hope. Hope for a bright tomorrow…"Ran said. Then she chuckled, "You must think me a bit wacky for saying that."
But Kenshin didn't, for he understood what she was saying. Looking at the clean sheets, he felt hope inside of him. Hope that someday, he'll be like the sheets. Clean…unstained. Even as Kenshin doubted that he'll ever become like the sheets, too stained as he was, he still felt hope. And hope felt nice…because it made his future more livable.
Ran spoke to him, "Do you want to help me prepare lunch?"
Having nothing else to do, Kenshin agreed. Looking around, he saw that they were the only ones left at the house.
"Sora-san and Goro-san are out visiting friends. I gave them a day off," Ran volunteered. She walked towards the kitchen.
Suddenly, a question came to Kenshin's mind, totally irrelevant but strangely important to him, "What should I call you?"
Ran turned to him, and asked seriously, "What do you think you should call me?"
"Ran-dono," was his somber reply.
"That's very formal, don't you think?" Ran replied.
"It suits you," was his simple answer.
She looked at him for a long moment and then nodded, "If that's what you want to call me."
On to the next chapter…
_____
Your choice: review first or go on reading. But please don't forget to review at some point! Thank you…
I had several versions of this chapter plotted in my head, but this is what came of it…I'm sorry if it's not that good.
My guidance counselor says I have self-esteem problems.
"Sessha doesn't think she has self-esteem problems…Sessha has a lot of steem…sometimes when sessha's mad, it comes out of her ears…"
Okay, I'll shut-up now!