The first part is a continuation of the last chapter. Thank you for making it this far!
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 PastBoxes and Beef Pots
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Kenshin would come to her house everyday to help with the chores. He helped Goro plot the vegetable garden in the backyard, Sora with the dishes, and Ran with the laundry. After a week, Ran asked him to move in.
He first refused but later accepted when Katsura asked him to do the same so he could keep an eye on her. He agreed then because he also felt that Ran needed protection, especially now that the war was escalating. He promised Katsura that he wouldn't tell Ran that Katsura had asked him to look after her but Ran found out somehow.
"You agreed to stay because Kogoro asked you to look after me, didn't you?" she asked the day he moved in.
Kenshin neither acknowledged nor denied it.
"He's such a worrywart," was all Ran said before letting it go.
The truth was that Ran was glad that Kenshin had agreed to stay. It meant that she could look after him.
The night of the meeting, Katsura had asked her to look after Kenshin since he was afraid that Kenshin was feeling depressed after Tomoe's death. Ran knew that story from Katsura, but also knew that this 'depression' started way before his disastrous marriage to Tomoe. It was what had prompted her to nurse him back to health when he had been sick.
Although that was the first time Kenshin and Ran had met, she already knew of him from Katsura's stories and her own observations. And what she saw when she looked at Kenshin was something she recognized.
It was a gentle spirit trying to break through all the harshness it had been surrounded with. That is why she suggested to Katsura that Kenshin should be allowed some softness in his hard existence, unless he'd break. It came from personal experience, that knowledge of how hard it could be if there wasn't some softness in a person's life.
She also felt guilty because, in a way, she was also responsible for getting Tomoe in Kenshin's life. She could sense how much he had loved her. How much he hurt because of her death. How guilty he felt for causing it, even accidentally. She felt the urge to apologize, but knew he wouldn't be able to accept it right now. The wounds were still raw, the guilt too painful.
But Ran knew that Kenshin would survive this. Ran knew that Kenshin would find a way to put the past behind. And she hoped that he would find a way to see himself worthy of life… of something beautiful… of love… Maybe someday, when all this madness was over, there would be time for healing.
But for now, it was trying to get through each day… and each night. Ran knew that Kenshin was having nightmares, and it was them that kept him from sleeping. She remembered her own nightmares and how even now, after slowly getting over them, they still haunted her. And she knew that sharing them with somebody would make them less real.
It was already close to dawn, when Ran heard Kenshin's anguished cry form his room. She knew that he had gotten in only about two hours before, since he had been out on assignment that night. Knowing that Kenshin would now be awake, sitting up in his room and playing with his beloved toy to wait for morning to come, she decided to go to him to keep him company.
Sliding the door to his room open, she saw him sitting by the window looking at something on the floor. She knew it was his spinning top. The light from the moon shone on Kenshin, making him look younger than he really was. Making him look more vulnerable which he really was. Ran's heart ached for him. Ached for the child that was still in him. She ached for him like a mother ached for her child. She wanted to go near him and give him a hug, but she knew he wasn't ready for such a show of affectionate.
So she settled to sit opposite him, watching the toy spin round and round and round. When it stopped, Kenshin picked it up and made it spin again.
Then he said to Ran, "You should go back to sleep."
"So should you," came the soft reply.
"I can't," was Kenshin's simple answer as he watched the top spin round and round and round.
"Nightmares?" was the gentle query.
Then Kenshin looked up to see Ran's face. And knew that he loved this woman liked he would have loved a mother. Suddenly he felt like sharing this burden with her.
"Don't you think it's ironic that the Nightmare of Kyoto is now plagued by nightmares himself? So much, that he's afraid to sleep?" he asked her.
"It's not irony. It's just evidence that you're human," she gently replied.
"Would you still call me human after all the horrible things I have done?" came his bitter question.
"You feel remorse, don't you? As long as one can feel something, he still is human," Ran said to him.
"Wouldn't it be better if I were gone? If I were dead? I killed so many, wouldn't it be just if I were dead myself?"
Ran looked at him with gentle eyes, "Yes, killing yourself would be so easy…but death is never the answer. Although you'd be gone, you'd leave only sadness and pain behind. Sadness and pain for those who care about you."
Kenshin laughed bitterly, "It's not like anybody cares for me!"
"Of course people care for you! Kogoro cares for you. Tomoe had cared for you. I care for you!" came the angry reply from Ran.
Kenshin was taken aback. It was the first time he had heard her raise her voice at anyone. He saw the hurt in her eyes and suddenly felt ashamed.
Sincerely he said, "I'm sorry." For what, he wasn't really sure. Probably for all the rude things he had said and done to her and for not believing that she cared for him.
"You're confused, I understand," Ran was saying, in her usual gentle voice.
Kenshin looked out the window at the moon and said, "I made a promise to her…that when this would be over, I'd walk away from all of this. Find a way to atone for my sins."
Ran looked at his profile, "I believe she would have wanted you to do that."
Kenshin looked at the stationary top, reached to pick it up but Ran was faster than him. She had the top in her hands and was studying it.
"I once said to you that this was a fitting toy for someone acting like a child. But I see now that I was wrong. This isn't a fitting toy for you. A toy should bring happiness…should make you smile… but whenever you are using it, you become so somber…so sad."
Kenshin looked at Ran as she continued, "Promise me something. When all this is over and you have walked away from it, try to find peace within yourself. And try to find happiness."
"I don't know if I can keep that promise," Kenshin said.
Ran stood up, still holding the toy, "Then I'm keeping it until you do." And walked out of the room.
Then one day, Ran was standing just inside the door as Kenshin was standing in the yard looking at her.
"Why do I feel that this is goodbye?" she asked.
Kenshin wanted to say so many things to her but emotions clogged his throat. They both knew that today would be it. The day the war would end. The day Kenshin would stick his sword in the ground and walk away to keep his promise to Tomoe.
Ran had walked out into the yard and was standing in front of Kenshin, "If you feel like returning here after this is over, I'll welcome you with open arms."
"Thank you," Kenshin said, "for so many things you have done for me…but I don't think I'll be coming back."
Ran smiled at him understandingly, " I thought so. You have to go on a journey to find yourself. Maybe wandering around Japan will help you."
Suddenly, Ran was hugging him fiercely, "Promise me to embrace happiness when you find it! Don't let it slip through your fingers. You deserve so much! And know that I'll always be there to care for you."
Then she let go and said to Kenshin, "Wherever you are, I'll find you. When you finally have kept your promise to me, I'll find you and return it to you. This I promise you."
She hugged him again and walked inside. Kenshin looked at her retreating back, then glanced at the laundry flapping in the breeze and felt hope…hope that he could keep his promise to Ran.
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Kenshin took the toy out from the box and made it spin. Watching it go round and round, he suddenly started laughing out loud.
Startled, Yahiko, Sano and Kaoru looked at the laughing Kenshin. It seemed a weird reaction when all that was in the box was a spinning top.
Kenshin saw the look on the three faces and stopped laughing to say, "Maybe I should explain it to you."
When he did, Yahiko, Sano and especially Kaoru felt touched that Kenshin was able to fulfill his promise to Ran because of them.
Kaoru said softly, "I'm glad that we make you happy, Kenshin."
Kenshin looked at the woman who made him feel so much again, "I'm glad too."
The two looked at each other, seemingly lost in a world of their own world when Yahiko interrupted them, "Oh stop it you two, you're going to make me puke!"
Kaoru glared at the boy for interrupting the moment but Kenshin just chuckled.
Kenshin turned to Sayuri and bowed towards her, "I owe so much to your mother. And I never really thanked her for all the things she has done for me."
Sayuri smiled at him exactly the way Ran did and said in the same gentle voice, "Keeping your promise to her is thanks enough. All she ever wanted was for you to be happy."
"I hope she was happy too," Kenshin said.
"She was," was the simple reply from Sayuri.
"So you mean to say that your mother sent you all the way to Tokyo to deliver a kid's toy?" Sano asked Sayuri.
Sayuri looked at him and nodded, "Yes, to fulfill a promise to Himu…Kenshin here."
Sano scratched his head, cocked it and asked her, "So all this mystery and drama and craziness was for a toy?"
Sayuri raised an eyebrow, "Hey! It was you who started spouting all these theories of why I am here in Tokyo. I never said it was something so dramatic!"
"Oh man! And I thought it was something really mysterious, like a lost treasure or something! And it turns out to be a toy! A freaking spinning top!" Sano complained.
Kaoru shoved his shoulder and said, "You have no sentiment at all! It doesn't matter that it turned out to be a toy but what matters is the story behind it! Why do I surround myself with these unfeeling idiots?"
"I think it's kinda neat that he finally got his toy back…because he's happy now…I think he deserves to be happy," Yahiko contributed.
Sayuri and Kaoru smiled at the youth for saying something as sensitive as that. Yahiko blushed again, but thought that it was a pretty great feeling to get two women smiling at him that way. Even if one happened to be an ugly tanuki.
Kaoru couldn't believe how Yahiko had matured in the three years they had known each other. She felt really proud of him and of herself for she knew that she had been a positive influence on him, even if the boy vehemently denied it. He'll grow up to be just fine. Not like the tori-atama here! she thought.
Said tori-atama was glaring at Yahiko saying, "Since when did you become Mr. Sensitivity?"
Yahiko rubbed his nose and said quite superiorly, "Stick around rooster-head and you might learn a thing or two from me!"
Sano was about to grab Yahiko and shake him but Sayuri yanked him back, "Oh stop it. Yahiko is right. You could use a little sensitivity training. It'll make it easier for you to get Megumi-san."
Sano turned to her and yelled, "For the last time, woman! I do not have the hots for that kitsune!"
Sayuri rolled her eyes, "Oh please! You're sooo in denial!"
Sano was about to reply when Kenshin stepped in with a his soothing, "Maa, maa, Sanosuke…we all know the truth about you and Megumi-dono."
Sano looked at Kenshin in surprise. The rurouni was making a joke? He heard Kaoru, Yahiko and Sayuri snickering and he glared at each one of them. He looked at Kenshin again, but only saw the familiar innocent rurouni expression on his face. This had been a strange day.
Kenshin looked out the window and noticed that it was already getting late. It was time for him to start dinner.
He looked at Kaoru, "Kaoru-dono, would it be okay if we invited Sayuri to stay for dinner? Sessha would like ask her about her mother, if that is alright with you?"
Kaoru had no problem with Sayuri staying for dinner since she also was eager to find out more about Ran. After the initial mix-ups and anxieties, she found that she liked Sayuri, especially the way she could handle Sanosuke.
She nodded to agree. She turned to Sayuri, "We would love for you to stay for dinner."
Sayuri shook her head, "I've already abused your generosity enough during lunch. But I would like to invite you all to dinner at a nice restaurant, if that's okay with you?"
But Kenshin said, "It wouldn't be much work to cook, Sayuri-dono. Sessha would even enjoy it."
"'Fer crying out loud, Kenshin, the woman's offering to buy you dinner. Why don't you be gracious and just accept it?" Sano said.
"Sanosuke!" Kaoru growled, "Would you please mind your manners? Sayuri is a guest here, not a meal ticket."
Sayuri chuckled, "That's okay, Kaoru-san. I'm getting used to Sano's ways. If he'd turned polite on me now, I'd be forced to believe that he'd been poisoned or hypnotized."
"I get no love from this woman," Sano grumbled.
"Serves you right," Yahiko mumbled. Luckily, Sano didn't hear him or there would have been another argument between the two.
So the group spent the rest of the afternoon talking. In the middle of conversation, something occurred to Kenshin.
"Sayuri-dono, where were you during the Bakumatsu? I never saw you, and Ran-dono never mentioned you," he asked.
"I was staying with my grandparents. Mother was helping the Ishinshishi by providing information. She felt that it would be safer for me to stay out of sight and that only few people knew that I even existed. But she came to visit me very often."
Kenshin knew that Ran had been a spy for the Ishinshishi. Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sano found it interesting that this Ran woman turned out to be much more than just a mother-figure to Kenshin.
"What about your father?" Kenshin asked. He was getting curious because he couldn't think that any husband would have allowed a wife to do what Ran had been doing during the revolution.
Sayuri looked away for a minute, then sadly said, "My father…" but she didn't continue.
Hearing the hurt in her voice, Kenshin said, "It's okay. You don't have to tell me."
Kaoru heard Sayuri's words and understood how she felt.
Sano interrupted the somber silence by saying, "Before we all get depressed and lose our appetite, I suggest we leave for the Akabeko."
"Trust the rooster-head here to think of food at a time like this," Kaoru said.
"Whaaaat? I was just trying to liven up the mood! Besides, if we don't leave now, we won't get a table," Sano defended himself.
"Actually, Sano's right. If we want to get a table, we should leave now," Yahiko agreed.
Sayuri was actually grateful that the subject was changed and said, "Well, if you think so, I guess we should leave for the Akabeko now. So what kind of food does the Akabeko serve?"
"Only the best beef pot in town!" Sano said.
Kaoru glared at him but said to Sayuri, "It's a restaurant we visit very often. The food is great and the prices are very reasonable."
Sayuri smiled, "Oh, don't worry. Money is not an issue here."
"It should be, after you see the tori-atama here eat," Yahiko said.
"Shut it brat! I've seen you stuff your mouth!" Sano growled at him.
"I think we should leave now, before Sano and Yahiko start quarreling, de gozaru," Kenshin volunteered.
So the fight was stopped before it began and the gang was making its way towards the Akabeko.
They had been walking quite a while, when Kenshin suddenly stopped and went still. The others stopped as well.
"What's the matter Kenshin?" Kaoru asked worriedly.
"I think someone's following us," he said in a low voice.
But Sayuri said aloud, "You can come out now."
And seemingly out of nowhere, two men appeared behind the group. Kaoru, Yahiko, Sano and Kenshin looked at the two men, dressed in very neutral clothes, who were looking at Sayuri.
"You can go home now. I am in a group here, and Himura Kenshin is one of them. Besides, I can take care of myself," she said to the two men.
"But…" one of the men was saying.
"No buts!" was Sayuri's reply, "I'm only going out to dinner. The most dangerous thing that could happen to me is choking on a piece of beef." She looked at the two men and after a second they both nodded and disappeared.
"Who were those men?" Kaoru asked Sayuri.
Sayuri turned to her and smiled apologetically, "My bodyguards."
"What do you need bodyguards for?" Yahiko asked.
"To keep her out of trouble," Sano quipped.
"Ha ha, very funny rooster-head… Actually, the bodyguards were my grandfather's idea."
Kenshin studied Sayuri for a moment, then said, "Those were highly skilled men. It takes a lot of money to hire them."
Sayuri sighed, "I know, but it's only the best for Matsuo Takashi."
"Matsuo Takashi?" Kenshin asked in surprise. It couldn't be.
"Yes, Matsuo Takashi is my grandfather. You didn't know?" Sayuri asked him, confused by his reaction.
"No, I didn't know that Ran-dono's father was Matsuo Takashi," Kenshin said.
Sayuri nodded, "Actually, I can imagine that you didn't know. Mother and grandfather were barely civil during the war. If not for me, she probably would never have returned to see him. Although, after the war, they did try to mend the rift between them. They eventually became friends…"
Suddenly, Ran's reaction to the news of Kuroi Takashi being in Kyoto made sense. But Kenshin was still a bit taken aback by the knowledge that Ran turned out to be someone so prominent.
"Holy crap, woman! Your grandfather's loaded!" Sano exclaimed.
Yahiko looked from Sayuri to Sano, "What you mean 'loaded'?"
But it was Kaoru who answered him, "Matsuo Takashi is one of the wealthiest men in Japan." She looked at Sayuri and was suddenly unsure how to treat her. This was a woman accustomed to wealth and she had been in the dojo, eating their simple food. And now she was walking to the Akabeko, when she should be riding a coach!
Yahiko's reaction was fascination, knowing that he had been spending time with a really rich person. Although, he did have his brush with wealthy people, even having been asked to impersonate a prince of a small Asian country for a day. But somehow, this was better.
"Is that really true?" Yahiko asked Sayuri.
Sayuri saw that the gang was looking at her differently, Kenshin with understanding eyes, Sano and Yahiko with fascinated eyes and Kaoru with intimidated eyes.
Sayuri sighed and tried to get things back to normal, "Well, yes, my grandfather is rich but I'm just a normal girl, really."
But Sano said, "I can't believe that the granddaughter of Matsuo Takashi bumped into me!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sayuri asked warily.
"Well, only that you can afford to buy all the beef pots we want!" Sano said enthusiastically.
Thoroughly embarrassed at Sano's behavior, Kaoru hissed at him, "Will you please mind your manners? Don't you know who you're talking to?"
Sayuri had heard Kaoru, sighed again, thinking that this happened almost every time people found out who she was, and said, "Look, just because I happen to be Matsuo Takashi's granddaughter, doesn't mean I am a special person that requires special treatment. Quite frankly it embarrasses me."
Kaoru nodded at her to indicate that she understood. She was also relieved that Sayuri wasn't a snob like she though just a few moments ago.
Sayuri turned to Sano and looked him in the eye, "That also doesn't mean that I'm buying you all the beef pots you want!"
However, she did end up buying all the beef pots Sano and Yahiko wanted. It was incredible how much those two could eat! But she felt it was worth it when after finishing all the food, the two turned to her and thanked her profusely for the dinner.
Throughout dinner, except for Yahiko and Sano who were stuffing their face, Sayuri, Kenshin and Kaoru talked about Ran and other things. It was Kaoru who asked most of the questions and Sayuri… and even Kenshin who answered them.
Kaoru learned a lot about Ran from Kenshin, which surprised her since the rurouni didn't talk much about the past. But the way he talked of her, Kaoru felt gratitude towards the woman because she had been there for him all this years ago. Kaoru also began to like Sayuri even more.
Although she was rich, she was a very down-to-earth person who made everyone feel at ease with her smile and humor. What endeared her even more to Kaoru were her questions about the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu and that she expressed a desire to learn the kendo discipline.
And that's how Kaoru found herself suggesting, "Sayuri-san, why don't you stay at the dojo with us for a few days?"
Sayuri smiled at her, "Oh, I would love to. But I don't want to be a burden to you."
"You won't be a burden! It would be nice to have female company at the dojo and I could show you some Kamiya Kasshin moves, if you want me to," Kaoru said to her.
The expression on Sayuri's face showed that she was really eager to accept the invitation, "I guess I could. But I can only stay for a few days, I have to leave for Kyoto at the end of the week."
"Well, that's okay! It'll be nice to have you for a few days," Kaoru said with a smile.
But Sayuri had gone quiet, then looked at Kenshin and said, "Actually, there's another thing I came here for."
Kenshin saw the expression on Sayuri's face and asked, "What's that, Sayuri-dono?"
Sayuri took a deep breath and exhaled, "I was wondering if you would come to Kyoto with me."
To be continued…
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Aha! See, see, see? I told you that I'd bring the other RK characters into my story! It's the how that should worry you. What does she need to do in Kyoto? And where's Saitou? All in the next chapters…Promise…this isn't finished yet…
Oh, and would you be so kind and review? Thank you!