Disclaimers: Not mine, but the first draft of the movie is! Ha!
IMPORTANT NOTES: I am so, so sorry for not updating in a long while. I'm nearly embarrassed, I'm so sorry. December was a kind of hectic month for me - my sister got married the sixth, my older sister had her first anniversary the fourteenth, school was hard before the break, Christmas (which, by the way, I hope everyone had a great one!), my birthday was on Saturday... it was a lot to do. Also, I hadn't really intended to expand this story as much as I have, but the inspiration kept coming, and the ideas came faster than anything, so this chapter needed a bit of work before I could post it. The rest of the chapters (as many others as there will be) will be like this because I like to think that no one could really *capture* the courting process for Kenshin and Kaoru, because it's kind of a magical thing for whoever is courting the love of their life. So, if you'd continue to be patient like you all have, this unworthy one will try the best she can to get other chapters out. Thank you very much for your reviews - you guys are too nice!
Contemplation
By Sean Montgomery
Courting, Kenshin figured, suited him.
And not just that he got to spend as often as he wanted with Kaoru, though that was a major fact, but that he didn't feel quite as lonely anymore. He found that there was something new, something that felt fresh when he saw her in the kitchen in the morning, willing to help him with anything, or when he was doing his chores.
She was everywhere, it seemed.
Oddly comforting.
Their visits to the market were rarely without each other. Even now, with her standing with a bowl of tofu in one hand, and him wondering if it was too bold to put an arm around her shoulders, he felt this was the most natural thing in the world. She would smile at him occasionally, a small one when being thoughtful, a bright one that warmed him when she laughed at something he had said. Everything felt so natural, he had to remind himself that they weren't married.
If only he could get that darned arm around her shoulders...
Why had he been so foolish not to do anything before? To keep her waiting for so long? Was he really so daft that he was convinced that he was too blood-stained, too dense, too old to court her?
He rolled his eyes. Of course he was.
"What was that for?" he heard Kaoru ask, noting just then that she was looking at him confused.
"Nothing." he grinned, assured that the smile would convince her of such. "Just thinking."
"About what?"
"{At least I don't have to ask her to court me again.}" he thought with a small grin. Leading her back on the path to the dojo, he took the full bucket of tofu from her, realizing at the last minute that he destroyed his chance of getting his arm around her shoulders. "About you."
"You seem to be doing that a lot." she said, attempting to hide the blush that rose on her face by stepping a little behind him.
"I'm doing a lot of thinking on this relationship, that I am. Nothing negative, of course. Remember that I haven't done something like this in quite a while. It's sort of new to me."
"Of course." she said, shaking her head as if he had pointed out something that was horribly obvious. "I should have remembered."
"It's all right, Miss Kaoru. There's no harm done in it."
Her face suddenly became disappointed. As much as she tried to hide it, it was nearly impossible under his searching gaze. "Is something wrong?"
"No." she said suddenly. Too suddenly for his taste. "Nothing wrong."
"Now, now." he said, stopping them both so he could face her fully. "How do you plan on progressing if we don't talk honestly with each other? I am honest with you. I'd be honored if you did the same, though that is your own decision."
Kaoru looked at him when she noted the compassion in his voice, the hope in his eyes that she would agree to putting herself in a vulnerable position as he so often did when talking to her. She wrung her hands in front of her. "You called me Miss Kaoru."
He glanced away for a moment, remembering the usage only moments ago.
"Please don't call me that. I hate it when you do."
Eyebrows shot up at the confession. They lowered slowly as the slightest of smiles fell on his face. "Then what do you want me to call you?"
"Kaoru will do. After all, we are in a relationship now. Don't you think we've known each other long enough to not use honorifics all the time?" Her stature changed all of a sudden. She was walking ahead of him, rambling as she went about how it was foolish to keep calling her something he should reserve only for the elderly. Kenshin could only continue to grin at her retreating figure. It broadened when she turned and asked him what was taking him so long. Walking slowly toward her, his eyes never leaving hers, he stopped right in front of her.
"If you wanted to be called something different, you only needed to ask."
With that he started walking down the path again, Kaoru stunned for a moment before regaining herself and catching up to him. When she got to his side, she lifted her hand and looped it through his injured arm. Kenshin, though happy with the small display of affection, was slightly disappointed. It was all that stupid sling's fault.
Because of that stupid sling, he thought bitterly a few hours later, it would be impossible for him to cook dinner properly. He stood in the kitchen staring at the tofu that he and Kaoru had bought earlier, quietly angry and mourning the loss of his arm, and the inability to cook Kaoru another dinner. While it was true that he cooked just about every dinner since he came here, it became more special to him now because he was able to do it for Kaoru. He loved it when her eyes lit up with a meal specially prepared for her (whether she knew it or not) and her smile along with her exclamation of how good the dinner was. He would be lying if he said that part of him wasn't always excited to see her face during dinner.
And, darn it, he wanted to see it again!
His sigh was full of frustration. As much as he tried, he couldn't cut the tofu pieces properly. They were too messy, with his knife pointed at an awkward angle trying to make the pieces as small as he could. When he tried again for the fifth time, he nearly threw the knife with his frustration as the force behind it.
"Kenshin?"
Her voice startled him. He flipped back to face her, knife still in hand, eyes wide with surprise. Her face was masked with confusion. "Are you all right?"
He put a smile in place. "Why do you ask?"
"You've been hitting that cutting board for the past five minutes."
Feeling the slightest blush taint his cheeks, Kenshin turned to the cutting board. Messy little pieces of tofu were strewn everywhere, most looking like they had been squished more than cut. Turning to look at her, he lifted the knife, his face staring at it like the thing had defeated him in some way. "I can't cut the pieces, that I can't. Holding the tofu is a little more difficult when my arm is in a sling."
Walking out of the doorway, Kaoru gently held the hand that protruded from the sling. "I guess it would be would it? But that's okay. If you'd like, we could eat at the Akebako again."
Dispare clung at him. If anything, he didn't want to have another dinner where others would stare at the both of them, as selfish as it sounded. He looked back at the pieces of tofu on the cutting board. A thought came into his mind that he hadn't realized he said until to was too late.
"You could help me cook dinner."
He was expecting some kind of dismissive wave of her hand and a small laugh to be followed by the painful truth in her eyes. She always let him do the cooking - she didn't want to scare him off with her food that, while looking good, lacked taste - but this time she merely looked at the cutting board and the small piles of spice set next to them that he had intended on using, and bit her lip. "I could do that. With your supervision, of course."
Kenshin hadn't expected the smile that came on his face, nor the joy at knowing that he was going to give Kaoru what could be her first cooking lesson. Turning to the cutting board, he handed her the knife, watching as her eyes filled with determination when she grabbed one of the bigger tofu pieces and slowly moved the knife through it. Eventually she began to get uneasy when he hadn't said anything for a while. The movements in her hands gave her away.
"Am I doing this right?"
"Perfectly." he said, merely watching her with a straight face.
"You'll need to help me out, eventually."
He shook his head. Her face turned to him when she saw it. "What do you mean 'no'?"
"I don't plan on helping you out. Maybe giving you a hint every now and then, but not helping." With a small smile, he turned and retrieved a pot with his good hand and walked out the door, intent on boiling some water. Kaoru only watched him leave, surprise as obvious as the tofu in front of her. Did he honestly want her to ruin the meal?
A little while later when he came back to her side to check on her progress, he only nodded and gestured to the boiling water, moving aside so she could put the small pieces into the pot. A small smile came to her face when she found that he had not only boiled the water, he had put other ingredients into it as well. Not helping, huh?
"What's next?" she asked, setting aside the cutting board.
"Spices will be added to give the meal some flavor, but there is a time when the specific one needs to go in. Decide which one will go first." He gathered the spices and walked over to her, holding the three of them out for her to decide. She stared at them for a while, hand hesitantly coming to rest on one.
Kenshin cleared his throat. Rather loudly. Looking at hid face, he slightly shook his head. She raised her eyebrow and placed her hand on another one. He cleared his throat again. Grinning broadly, she took a small portion of the third pile and put it into the pot, stirring it all the while. "I thought you said you weren't going to help me."
"I'm not helping you. Just giving you a head start."
She laughed at that, her smile making his grow. Suddenly, he grabbed the spoon she was stirring the meal with, covering her hand with his. "You shouldn't stir the mixture quite like that. Do it in circles. It's easier on the arm."
Kenshin realized at the last minute that she wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. It was then he realized that he was standing close to her. So close he could smell the scent from her hair and a slight whiff of the perfume she was wearing. Close enough for her scent to make him dizzy.
Way too close indeed. Inappropriate for this time.
"Gomen." he said quietly, feeling a small blush begin to stain his cheeks as he pulled away.
It was after that when Kaoru remembered how to breathe.
Sitting down at the small table - Kaoru insisting that she bring the food to him since he couldn't use his other arm very well - Kenshin resolved that the surface of the table before him would be appropriate for him to hit his head on. He wouldn't do it, however, because he didn't want to make Kaoru worry.
How on earth had he gotten so close to her without him noticing? He was supposed to be the one who was able to keep himself at bay when he was around her. Granted, he was just trying to help her stir the soup.
"{But that's no excuse!}" his mind screamed back. "{Nothing of that sort should happen at least until we're engaged!"}
That thought brought a small smile to his face, a groan afterward when he thought of whether or not she would say 'yes' to something like that. "{Don't even go there.}" he thought, rubbing his eyes. "{Worry about the situation at hand now before any possible thing in the future.}"
"Kenshin?"
Kenshin's head snapped up, looking at Kaoru who was awaiting... something from him. His face reddened again when he understood he had been caught in his thoughts while she had placed the food in front of him, waiting to hear what he had to say about it.
"{Baka.}"
Awkwardly getting the bowl in one hand, Kenshin held it firm within his grasp. He glanced at Kaoru, almost smiling at the somewhat nervous and anxious look in her eyes, and confidently lifted the bowl to his lips. He kept his face clear of any thought until the bowl was back on the table. She was persistent on an answer, rapidly asking him things while he was still drinking, and was ready to fume until he spoke.
"The broth is wonderful."
Slipping chopsticks in his right hand, he lifted a piece of tofu and put in his mouth, taking time to chew while she grew impatient. When he swallowed, she looked ready to throw her bowl at him.
"The tofu is, as well."
That didn't seem to satisfy her. "You've always said that, Kenshin. What do you really think?"
"Honestly! The meal is great, that it is!"
Her shoulders slumped in defeat, her head sinking. "It's horrible. You're saying that to be nice."
He chuckled, a delighted sound full of sympathy and abounding happiness. "If you don't believe me, you should taste it for yourself."
Kaoru sighed miserably and fixed her own chopsticks in her hand. Finding a piece of tofu, Kenshin waited while she put it to her mouth - and smiled broadly when her face lit up in delight.
"It *is* good!"
Kenshin found another piece and put it in his mouth. "I told you it was."
"I thought you were just being nice!"
"Of course not. I know how hard you worked on this meal. I knew it was going to be delicious."
A moment of silence passed. Kaoru smiled gratefully at Kenshin, full appreciation shining in her eyes. "Thank you, Kenshin."
Noting the expression on her face, he could only smile back. "It was my pleasure."
And there be chapter three. Don't ask me what on earth they were eating - if there is any Japanese person who read this and was completely confused, don't be. My lack of knowledge in the Japanese food area is abundant, so I tried to do something without actually looking up a meal. Bad author. Bad, bad...
Also, this might be the second to last chapter, now that I think about it. I'm finding it harder and harder to create scenarios and keep these two in character (the whole cooking sequence took me this whole time to fix up. Argh...), so I might just advance a few months into their relationship. Just think, though - after this, you'll get another fic where they're married! Bet you can't wait, huh? :D
Small note - birthday greetings earn brownie points from authors. Just FYI. *laughs*
See you on the next chapter!