Disclaimer : Rurouni Kenshin is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shonen Jump, Viz, and Sony Productions.

Thanks to Onitokage and Vic'chonn for their input about the organization of the chapter.

Possession

Donna8157

Chapter 14 : Family

It was early morning. Kenshin sat inside the limousine as he looked out the window towards the entrance of the hospital. Kaoru was to be released today after one night of staying there. His purple eyes didn't seem to focus on anything in particular. It was then that he saw her walking towards the car. She was wearing the black suit that Misao had brought for her. Kenshin's line of vision followed her as she walked towards the limo and got in.

"Thank you for coming to get me, sir." Kenshin's eyes glanced at her briefly before looking towards the window again. He noticed the many white bandages that had covered her body and his stomach cringed with guilt. He was the one that caused them.

"Are you okay?" he asked as she sat down next to him.

"Umm . .yes, sir." Kaoru nervously looked at him in the corner of her eyes.

"That's good." He closed his eyes as the driver started the engine. As he drifted into his thoughts, his mind wandered to that day that he had pushed her through the glass door. He unconsciously clenched his pale fingers as he remembered all the blood that surrounded Kaoru. All that blood. It was just like . . just like that night.

Kenshin unconsciously clenched his fists at the image of the blood. He had been so lost in his thoughts and memories of the past that he didn't realize that they were already back at the Seijuro estate.

"We're home, sir," the driver said as he looked up in the rearview mirror.

Kenshin blinked as he looked outside and saw he was at the front door. Kaoru got out first to go around the car so that she could open the door for the young man, but she found that Kenshin had already gotten out and was making his way to the door. This was probably his wordless consideration for her. With a vague smile playing about her lips, she followed him into the house.

When Kaoru went back inside her bedroom, the first thing she did was to go over to the telephone. She picked up the receiver and started to dial a familiar set of numbers. Then she sat down on the edge of the bed as she waited for someone to pick up.

"Kyoto Mental Hospital, how may I direct your call?"

"Hello. This is Kamiya Kaoru," the girl said as she twined her fingers around her hair.

"Oh, Kaoru-san! It's nice to hear from you again. How are you dear?"

"I'm doing . . fine." Kaoru smiled ruefully as she reached over to the drawer and took out the picture of her family that she cherished so much. A family that was broken. She lightly traced the faint outline of her mother's face. "How . . how is my mother doing?"

"Aaa . . . I'm sorry, but she hasn't gotten any better."

"Oh . ." Kaoru murmured silently as she set down the picture frame on the bed. Water formed around her eyes and she quickly wiped it off with her forefinger as she got up and walked towards the window. "Umm . . thank you for taking care of her for me. I'm very grateful."

"It's no problem, dear. I haven't seen you here in a long time. You should visit her soon."

"I know." She tightened her fingers into a fist and her fingernails dug into her palm. She missed her mother. "I should visit often. I'm sorry."

"There's no need to be sorry, dear."

Kaoru looked out at the beautiful skyline outside her window and closed her eyes gently. I'm sorry mother that I haven't come to visit you. I so very much want to see you again.

"Hello? Kaoru-san?"

The voice on the other line broke the girl's thoughts. She quickly opened her eyes. "Aa . . well, I have to go. Thank you for talking to me."

"It was nice hearing from you too, dear. Take care of yourself."

"You, too," Kaoru said wistfully as she ended the call. She walked in almost a trance-like state as she set down the receiver again. Tears seemed to cloud both her eyes and her mind. Her mother had not gotten any better and it seemed that she never would return to the woman Kaoru had known in the past. She quickly brushed the few tears that had fallen from her eyes and took a deep breath to clear her mind.

Kaoru started walking towards the bathroom when she noticed Kenshin standing by her door.

Her eyes widened in shock as her breath stilled. When had he gotten there? How long had he been standing there? She watched him walk over to her bed and pick up the silver frame containing the picture of her family.

As Kenshin looked at the frame, the first thing he noticed was Kaoru's smile. A genuine smile that seemed to light up her entire face. Beautiful, he thought. But the smile wasn't directed towards him. It was just a picture. He then looked over at the two people standing next to her and saw that it must have been her parents. The three of them seemed so happy and the feeling of love exuded from the paper-thin picture.

He set down the picture with an expressionless face and found that his eyes continued to look at the three people in the frame. Kaoru hurriedly walked over and put the silver frame back into the drawer. Kenshin watched her as she did so and turned back to walk out of the room.

"You can rest today."

Kaoru was in the process of shutting the drawer when she heard his words. She looked over at him with surprise in her face. "E -Excuse me, sir?"

"With your body like that you won't be able to wait on me and instead you'll only be a burden. I'll go to school by myself today . . so just rest," he said in a steady, low-pitched voice. He looked back at her and almost as an afterthought added, "But! It's only for today."

Kaoru's heart started to beat faster as she looked down on the ground. "Thank you."

Kenshin didn't reply to her and went back to his room. Kaoru stood there absent-mindedly in disbelief. Rest? Because of the phone call just awhile ago? Did he hear it? Of course Kenshin had said she would be a burden to him and put it in a negative way, but the young woman did not think of it that way. In her heart, there was an indescribable gratefulness towards the man.

She could see her mother again.

Kaoru walked through the familiar doors of Kyoto Mental Hospital. She took the elevator to the third floor and went over to the nurse's desk.

"Hello. I'm here to see my mother . ."

The elderly nurse at the desk looked up with her brown eyes. "Ara? Kaoru-san? It's so nice to see that you could make it today."

"I . .I had some time today," Kaoru said as she glanced over towards the hallway where her mother's room was located.

The nurse smiled as she nodded. "That's good . . but . ." The older woman looked over at the girl's face and squinted. "What happened to your face?"

The raven-haired girl's face reddened immediately as she looked down at her feet trying to hide the bandages and cuts. "I . . I fell down the stairs and got hurt a little." Kaoru then looked back up and smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I was too careless."

The nurse looked at her suspiciously and then sighed and shook her head. "All right . . but you really should be more careful, dear. You could have gotten hurt a lot more seriously," she said with worry.

"I'm all right now. Don't worry. But umm . ." Kaoru looked down the hallway again. "Where is my mother?"

"Oh. Your mother is not in her room. She's downstairs in the garden catching up on some fresh air. Come follow me," she said as she walked out from behind the nurse's station towards the girl. "Your mother will be very happy to see you. I'm sure." A warm smile appeared on her face as she looked at Kaoru and beckoned the girl to follow her.

The elder nurse led her downstairs towards the middle vicinity of the hospital. Behind the glass panes, Kaoru could see her mom sitting the wheelchair exposed to the warm sunlight. Her eyes started to fill with tears as her heart yearned with longing. Her steps quickly became long strides as she neared the distance between herself and her mother.

"M-mom . ." she whispered brokenly underneath her breath as she opened the door to the garden. The elderly nurse who was standing near the door looked at the two of them with pity and decided that she would give them some privacy.

Tears that had been held within started to flow out from the girl's eyes as she walked towards her mother. After wiping her tears, Kaoru kneeled down on the ground and took her mother's hands within her own. She looked up into her mom's dull blue eyes and smiled softly.

"Did you wait for a long time, mom? I'm sorry . . I should visit you everyday." She got up from the concrete floor and hugged her mom tightly. As she felt her mom within her embrace, more tears began to flow out from her eyes. She had missed this so much. This feeling she had when she was with her mother . . but . . but . .

Kaoru let go of her mom slowly as she looked into the woman's eyes.

The blue hues of her orbs were vacant and seemed to just stare through the girl without any reaction. Without any sign of recognition.

Wetness began to gather around Kaoru's eyes as she looked at her. Where was the mother that she had once known? She smiled sadly as she gently touched her mother's cheek. "Mom . . didn't you miss me? . . I . . missed you a lot," she said brokenly. Kaoru's hand that held her mother's hand tightened ever so slightly as she shut her eyes.

Why don't you talk to me, mom? Why don't you hold me like you used to? Why don't you smile for me?

She opened her eyes as she looked at her mom. Kaoru just watched her . . waiting for some sort of response. Some sort of sign that would show her that her mother remembered her. That her mother would get better. But the older woman's eyes only seemed to stare through thin air and her lips remained tightly shut. There seemed to be no feeling at all left within her.

Why . . why don't you remember me, mom? It's me . . your daughter.

Kaoru continued to look at her mother and then realized that there was nothing she could do. Her heart ached as she finally released her grip on her mom's hands. The young woman took a deep breath and wiped off her remaining tears with the sleeve of her shirt as she walked behind her mom and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair. "Why don't we go for a walk since the weather is nice?" She put a smile on her face as she began pushing the wheelchair towards the promenade.

It hurts, but at least I can be with you like this.

Soujiro rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he closed his locker. It had been a long night. Sanosuke, Kenshin, and he had stayed at the hospital until Kaoru had been released to a room. It was a relief to them when they found that her cuts were all surface wounds and luckily would heal after a week or so.

RING

The school bell sounded and the boy sighed as he started walking to his homeroom. It was then that he noticed Kenshin walking down the hall by himself. The young man knit his brows in worry. What happened to Kamiya-san? She should be back today. Did something happen? He strode over to his friend.

"Himura-san, why isn't Kamiya-san with you? Is she still hurt? Is she still in the hospital?" Soujiro questioned incessantly as he stared at Kenshin.

"I . . . I let her rest," he replied in a quiet voice as he avoided the other's eyes.

"I thought she was supposed to get out . . oh." Soujiro stopped his informal interrogation when he realized that his friend had answered him. He widened his eyes in disbelief. "Rest? Himura-san . . did you say you let Kamiya-san rest?" The boy seemed to repeat the word as if he didn't hear Kenshin correctly the first time.

Kenshin ignored Soujiro's question and instead found his mind wandering to the picture of Kaoru with her family. How her face was filled with a bright smile.

A smile that would never be shown towards him.

It's getting dark, Kaoru thought as she looked outside the window from within the confines of the small room of the hospital. She was sitting in a chair lightly holding on to her mother's hand as they were watching the television, an activity they had enjoyed back then before everything came apart. She looked sadly at her mom as she gently let go.

"Mom . . it's getting late. I have to go, but I'll come back and see you again." The girl smiled tenderly as she leaned over and kissed the frail woman on the cheek.

"I love you," she said softly and she found herself tearing up again. But she held the tears back as she stood back up and gave her mother a convincing smile. The mother neither replied nor looked at her as Kaoru left the room.

Once Kaoru had hailed a taxi and got inside, the tears that she had been holding in finally spilled forth.

I'm sorry, Shinta.

A voice from the past penetrated Kenshin's thoughts as he sat back in the chair at Club 57 once again. He tightened his fingers around his bottle of beer as he tilted it towards his mouth and gulped the liquid down. He didn't understand it, but his thoughts seemed to consistently drift towards the Kamiya girl. He furrowed his brows as he tried to push those thoughts about her from his head.

Since Kaoru had appeared in his life, images and voices from the past that he had for so long suppressed and buried in the deep unconscious of his mind seemed to sprout back up. The lies and . . and the blood. His face grew dark as he narrowed his eyes frighteningly as he remembered a hazy image of a woman with strawberry blonde hair and lavender eyes.

The one woman that he thought he could trust. The one woman that he loved. The one woman that he had called mother had deceived both him and his father. She had done something unforgivable. If one's own mother could deceive her own child, then not much could be said about the other girl either. A smirk tinged with mockery and an even deeper sadness played on his lips.

Could Kaoru be any different?

Taking one last gulp of his beer, Kenshin drearily pushed himself out of his chair and walked to the center of the dance floor. He started to dance wildly as if he wanted to forget the thoughts that were controlling his mind. But in the end, only the image of Kaoru seemed to emblaze itself into his head.

DING, DING

The clock hanging on the wall struck twelve midnight. Kaoru who had turned her head to look at the time sat there on her the corner of her bed with a tense expression donned on her visage. She turned her head back around and stared out the window. She couldn't fall asleep. It was late and Kenshin had not returned home yet. The feeling of uneasiness seemed to eat into her even more when she had found that the young man had gone out unaccompanied. Kaoru turned back around at the clock once more to check the time. Not even a minute had passed.

She berated herself for looking. Throughout the night, Kaoru had found herself unconsciously turning back to stare at the clock.

Where is he?, she wondered. Finally, she got out of bed when she decided that she couldn't sit around any longer. Kaoru walked towards the door and left the room after grabbing a heavy jacket. At that moment, she heard footsteps coming up the stairwell. She stopped in her tracks as she clutched her jacket closer to her chest. When she saw who it was a feeling of relief passed through her.

He had come back.

Kenshin was ambling up the staircase unsteadily with one of his hands grasping onto the bars of the staircase. His red hair was in a mess and the unmistakable stench of nicotine and alcohol oscillated around him. Disregarding it all, Kaoru went over to him.

"Stop right there!" Kenshin ordered as he saw her come closer. The girl widened her eyes as she froze in her tracks. "Don't come any closer to me." His eyes glared at her from behind his red hair while his head was slightly lowered. Kaoru felt a shiver run down her spine when she felt his sharp and cold eyes on her. The man continued to stare at her as he walked up the remaining steps. With a loud slam, he shut the door to his room.

Kaoru's blue eyes looked vacantly at his bedroom door.

Is he .. okay?

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- To be continued

Author's Notes :

Hi! Please leave a review and tell me what you think and/or what can be improved upon. In the beginning, I had an entire thing written up about Kenshin's past in story format, but I ended up scrapping the entire thing because I found that it just seemed to take away from the focus of the chapter. In the end I just planned on giving a little more insight into his past and it will be fully revealed in good time. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next chapter should come out sooner.

Special thanks to HitokiriSky, Oni Tokage, Ryoga, De Lazy Lime, andy, Dreamer, erica6060, kirie-kun, Dragon Master271, nirada, cyjj, Himura-chan, Coodle, Tenshi-no-Hana-chan, Brittanie Love, super, cutie-chan-XD3, XxSilentxDreamerxX, NekoYokai, Ochanoko, Piper, star0704, InuLimbo, Chibi Kiki, Katana Midori, tiaravball15, Rkfan86, Spike-Faye, Baby Kaoru-sama, Kitsune Kenshin, Julie, Fuu, Eternal-Senshi-S, kimi.the.water.spirit, flaming-amber, Silver Goddess1, Mz. Amber Eyes, Paleah, Pan-chan13, kik-ting, Anonymous T, Miaka, nobody, KKfan4ever, rain angst, Sugar-Crazy-Fox, GothicBlacre, chibi frog, S3R3nity, rkfan246, ;) , MizzLee, Nigihayami Haruko, Kiichi Dazai, Melanie, Sword Heart, and moderndaybattousai for reviewing! Thanks so much for your support. =) ::hands out mini Soujiro gummies::