Hi, and thanks for coming back. I'm now on semester break, finally. I'm enjoying the luxury of doing stuff not related to schoolwork, hence, you get this new chapter rather early. On with the adventures of our pale-faced redhead. The first few paragraphs is one of the few times I actually write long paragraphs. 8 )
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Last night, Kaoru was beside him in his bedroom. No, he was in a daze at the porch, then someone, most likely Kaoru, helped him up and walked him to his bedroom. Or was that the other night? In any case, it was last night that Kaoru was beside him in his bedroom. He had sworn, as he looked down on her, not to fail her again, not to take those sleeping pills again. She had even given him a hug, that much he recalled.
The days and nights had blended into each other so much that he did not have a clear idea what day it was exactly. He did not remember exactly when he promised, not anymore. But he knew, he was fully convinced, that then, even if only then, he was fully awake, heart, mind, and soul. He looked into her face, and finally knew, without a shadow of a doubt, what he felt about her. He promised himself to be there for her, no matter what it took to change himself.
Soon after that promise was made, and Kaoru had tucked him in again, the endless dreams began.
He recalled having a long and strange dream of walking and walking, and finding this little girl. He woke up in a strange bed, surrounded by the smell of antiseptic, and Kaoru beside him in another strange bed. He knew about sleepwalking, but this was ridiculous. He felt incredibly tired, very odd, considering he was just asleep. He actually wanted to.......to........sleep, just a little more. And a strange man came a few minutes later to answer his wish. It was still hazy, but he barely recalled being fed some gruel. Then this man let him take a little something out of a teacup, and soon he was drowsy again, and asleep again.
He had another weird dream of walking to a little room behind a rather large house. The strange man was there, helped him disrobe. Then streams of water fell on his hair and his face. He actually felt dirt and grime fall off him with every new stream. He more or less got the idea after a while, and finished bathing himself, but still found it odd to be dreaming about bathing. The strange man handed him a new set of clothes to wear. He could not understand what the man was saying, but he accepted the clothes anyway. Another meal of soup and tea made him fall into dreamless sleep again. How long? He had no idea. He only knew that this evening with Kaoru has got to be the longest and weirdest yet.
He also recalled dreaming of Kaoru beside him in that strange bed, a damp towel over her head, and her cheeks flustered. She was sleeping restlessly. He felt her hand, and found it quite hot. The towel was as hot as her forehead now. He found a basin near her, washed the towel anew in the cold water, and placed it back on her forehead. He remembered just looking at her, and washing the towel every hour, for several hours, until the sunbeams came through the windows of the house they were in.
"I'll take over now, Himura-san," he heard the strange man say as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Will she be alright?" he asked in a drowsy voice.
"Yes, thanks to you," the man answered.
It was still really odd. He knew he was still dreaming, but felt like he had a sleepless night. "I want to sleep now," he drawled out.
"Pleasant dreams, my friend," the man said, and gave him a cup of tea. Normal tea; it did not have that bitter taste the ones before it had. But he was too tired to care. He was soon fast asleep.
Normal tea alternated with bitter tea for two more days. Kaoru was told by the doctor which one was which, but Kenshin did not seem to notice.
She began to be seriously sick hours after they reached the doctor's clinic. Two sleepless nights had made her cold turn into a serious fever. She had begged many times for the doctor to take care of Kenshin instead of her; he needed it more. But the doctor made her understand that he would be fine and that she badly needed to rest. Kaoru did know it was Kenshin who tended over her for a whole night, changing the damp towel. She wanted to thank him some time during the night, but his eyes were still too glassy. He always seemed asleep, even with his eyes open.
She sighed. Maybe it was indeed better this way. At least his mind was far away from his troubles. He should be happier this way. But she shook the thought away. He was so much more interesting when he was his normal self. She missed him badly.
"Are you sure he'll be fine?" she asked the doctor countless times.
"He's a strong man, he'll get through this," the doctor assured her.
"Anything I can do?"
"Rest well, and get your strength up," the doctor smiled at her. "I can see he gets his strength from you."
He finally woke up in earnest after two more meals of soup and tea. By then the dose had been lowered just enough that he did not have to have the medicine in the daytime. It did not make the days easier to deal with, but it was a start. It had indeed been a while since he did not feel lost in a dream.
He had a long string of questions ready for the man beside his bed. He sat upright on it, held his head, and asked away.
"Where am I?"
"The doctor's clinic. I'm the new doctor. I apologize if we have not been introduced," the man answered.
"How did I get here?"
"Kamiya-san brought you here."
"How long have I been here?"
"This is the end of the week you have been here with her."
"What time is it?"
"Just past 1 in the afternoon."
"What day is it today?"
The doctor gave a date much, much later than he expected. One and a half months late.
"That is impossible! Last week summer just started.........."
"It's nearing autumn already, my friend."
"What happened to the days in between?" he asked with alarm.
"In a manner of speaking, you slept through them."
"But you don't understand..........." then he saw Kaoru sleeping in another bed, with flustered cheeks. "How is she?"
"The fever is almost gone. She can go home with you by tomorrow." The doctor chuckled. "You two are meant for each other. You worry so much about the other, you forget about yourselves."
He ignored the comment, but he felt his cheeks warm up. "Yahiko? Where is he? Eleven years old, a spiky-haired boy.........."
"He proudly declared that he can take care of himself for the next few days. He is at your house. He just visits here every day."
Always the little boy acting like a man, he smiled to himself.
"Oh, and thank you for taking care of Kamiya-san the other night," the doctor added. "If it were not for you, she would have it worse now."
At first Kenshin scratched his head, then looked well at the doctor. "You mean........"
"I do not know what you remember, but you really did that. You have very good instincts for her."
This time his pale face turned to a color near to his hair's.
The doctor laughed aloud and patted him on the shoulder. "Propose to her already, and get it over with."
"ORO?!" Any degree of sleepiness left was now gone.
"The whole district has been wondering when you'll pop the question."
"The WHOLE DISTRICT?!"
The doctor laughed again. "News travels fast, my friend. Besides, both of you are generally liked here, and they do like the idea of you two getting together."
"But.........but............does the rest of the district also know.........how.........how I got into this mess?"
"No. That is between you, her, Yahiko-chan, Inspector Fujita, and me. If she is the reason why you got into this mess in the first place, you're worrying yourself for nothing. I saw that this week." The doctor smiled wide. "You love her, and she loves you back."
"But, sensei, you do not know me the way............the way she knows about me............and even she does not know everything about me............"
"As if that matters to her? Listen, if she did not love you so much, would she get sick over you?"
He turned red in the face again. He mumbled. "But............my............my past............"
"In love, the present is forgiven, and the past is forgotten."
Neither doctor nor patient noticed, but Kaoru was getting very flustered and had her eyes tightly closed.
She had heard every word.
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The next day, the doctor gave her a final check. "Get of here, my dear. And take Himura-san with you," he ordered with a wide grin.
She smiled, then bowed her head. "Um, sensei, about what you said to Kenshin............"
"I meant it," he grinned. "Good luck to both of you."
"But........but............" she looked around. Only she and the doctor were in the room. "Where is he, anyway?"
"I'm not sure, but he has not left the clinic........."
She no longer heard the last part of the sentence, and went on a frantic search. The doctor could only smile.
She opened all the doors of the clinic, calling loudly for Kenshin. Had he gone walking around again by himself, and getting in trouble again? In her panic, she had not bothered to tie her hair up in a ribbon, leaving it flowing behind her.
When she reached the bath-house, the door opened by itself.
She found herself face to face with the object of her search............dressed only in a white towel around the waist.
She had seen him bare-chested before, but not recently. And not with his red hair streaming around his still tight body, despite the lack of exercise. It was also almost the first time she had fully observed his muscular arms and thighs. She found it hard not to stare.
"Kenshin."
He, too, could not take his eyes off her. Rarely did she leave her hair down. It now fell in an even waterfall behind her. She had a warm color to her cheeks that added to her simple beauty.
"Kaoru-dono."
It eventually dawned on them both that something else had to be said. They finally had the chance to had a real conversation after a week, aside from the many nightmarish days..........and no words came out.
"Good morning, Kaoru-dono." He still did not take his eyes off her.
"Good morning." Neither did she.
Another uneasy silence.
Then they both spoke at the same time. "I am sorry."
Then apologized together to the other. "Don't be sorry."
They smiled at the coincidence. And grew silent again.
Still she could remove her stare at his physique, but other practicalities began to finally dawn. "You'll catch cold."
"You still have a cold," he replied.
She sneezed, as if to confirm this. "Don't worry about me. Are you alright?"
"Somewhat, thank you."
Yet another silence.
Kenshin pointed inside the bath house, and Kaoru pointed toward the room with beds. "I should go and finish first, don't you agree?" They both said to the other. This time they laughed quietly and parted ways.
Fifteen minutes later they met again, looking they way both were familiar with. Kenshin in a red yukata, Kaoru in a yellow kimono.
"Hey, Kenshin," she greeted, rather weakly.
"Kaoru-dono."
They looked at each other again in silence with a slight smile. Then Kaoru bounded toward him and hugged him tightly.
"Kenshin no baka! Look what you did! You gave me such a bad cold! I lost a week of wages because of you! You'll be the death of me someday, silly stupid wanderer!" she felt tears flow down to her cheeks, as she felt the reality of that tight chest and those fine arms around her.
He stroked her hair slowly and hushed her gently. "It will not happen again, I promise, Kaoru-dono. It will not happen again."
"I'll make SURE it won't happen again, you idiot!" she sobbed into his yukata.
It was early afternoon when they were ready. As they stood at the clinic gates to leave, both bowed low before the doctor in gratitude. No words were necessary.
The doctor gave her a brown parcel. Kaoru knew what was inside without being told, but the doctor told her anyway. "This is the medicine, and the necessary doses."
She looked up at him. "There is no other way?"
The doctor shook his head. "Add a lot of love, to make the progress faster."
Both blushed, and departed.
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Hikari Kitten -- Thank you so much, and thanks for understanding. Chikifriend -- Yay! She's back! I'm glad I rock your world, thanks much! Witches and warlocks are more of a western than eastern thing, so I didn't use that. I became a Gackt fan just this year ("Tsuki no Uta" is to blame), so I probably don't know everything there is to know about the guy. Indeed, he's rather eccentric, but his music is incredible. I suppose your friends will help you get started. See ya around, kabayan! ) samuraiduck27 -- Thanks so much! Sabbie -- Chiki is now Chikifriend. The short version of the problem is in her profile. junyortrakr -- I guess I'm one of the rare people apologizing for a long chapter. ) I don't want any chapter to be TOO long for anybody, you see. Brittanie Love -- Thank you! JML -- I consulted several books, and they all say step-down is the way sedative-hypnotics are correctly taken out, since there are dangerous withdrawal symptoms. Thanks for liking it. TheEtherWay -- In my reviews, click on Chikifriend. You'll find ways to contact Chiki there. Yup, he'd probably be half-Dutch, since Holland was allowed to continue trade with Japan when all the other Western powers were cut off during the Tokugawa era. evilteddybear -- Why are you an evil teddy bear? ) Yes, will continue, thanks a lot! Nekotsuki – Wow, thanks a lot for liking that alley scene!