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

Special Thanks to Oni Tokage for your help when I had writer's block.

Possession

Donna8157

Chapter 17 : Group Lesson

"BEAR!!"

Ryuzaburo widened his eyes as he dropped his paintbrush in mid-stroke onto the dirt floor. The feeling of fear seemed to grasp at his throat and paralyze him when he heard the cry of alarm. He then turned over to Kaoru and seeing how pale she was, he quickly went over and stood in front of her with his two arms outstretched. It was then he heard the pounding of steps on the ground and he quickly took a few steps back, pushing Kaoru behind him.

"BOO!" The person who screamed bear was none other than Shura. She laughed as she clutched her stomach when she saw her two friends' expressions. "Haha! You both fell for it! You should see your faces right now!" she pointed.

Kaoru smiled a bit hesitantly as her face regained its color. She took a step back when she realized how close she was standing to Ryuzaburo, but tripped on a small stone.

SPLASH!

"Kaoru-san!" Ryuzaburo yelled when he turned back and realized that Kaoru had fallen into the small river. She had accidentally lost her balance when Shura had popped out in front of them. The blue-eyed woman quickly surfaced up from the water and let out a breath of air, luckily she could swim. "Here. Grab my hand!" the man called as he reached out.

The young woman grabbed it and he helped pull her out. She started to shiver when the cold air hit her wet skin.

"I'm . . I'm so sorry, Kaoru!" Shura apologized when she realized that the other girl had gotten wet.

"A-achoo!" she sneezed. She quickly rubbed her nose. Fat droplets of water dripped from her clothes and hair. Her two friends frowned.

"You'll catch a cold like this. Here have my jacket." Ryuzaburo took off his jacket and placed it over Kaoru's shoulders. Then he placed his arms over her shoulders and together the three of them started walking back to the campgrounds.

Kenshin watched from behind the tree with his heart still pounding from what he had just seen. When he had heard the cry of alarm, his feet started unconsciously moving towards the other side of the river where Kaoru was located. He stopped himself just before appearing in front of her when he saw that it was just another girl playing a joke. He grimaced as he leaned back against the tree.

What's gotten into you, Kenshin?

Ryuzaburo, Shura, and Kaoru trekked back to the camp and towards the girls' cabins. When the three of them arrived in front of Kaoru's cabin, her two friends immediately ordered Kaoru to stay in bed. She had a slight fever and they didn't want to see it get any worse. As soon as they saw that she was settled inside, Ryuzaburo and Shura left so that she could get some rest.

Minutes ticked by and the young woman lay in bed as she stared blankly at the roof above her. The sound of her classmates laughing and yelling could be heard from within the small cabin room. Hearing those muffled sounds of happiness only made Kaoru's feeling of loneliness accentuate.

KNOCK KNOCK

Kaoru looked over to her side in surprise. She wondered if Shura or Ryuzaburo had come. Instead, she saw Sanosuke walk into the room. The young woman widened her eyes and was about to push herself out of bed when the man motioned for her to lie back down.

"Hey jou-chan, I was just checking in on you," he said with a smile as he closed the door behind him. "I heard you got sick." He walked towards her and pulled a chair next to bed to sit down.

"Thank you, sir." Kaoru's eyes softened as she heard his words. Throughout the entire time that Kaoru had been with Kenshin, Sano had always been there for her. She was thankful for his warm kindness.

The spiky-haired man looked down at her expression and a handsome grin appeared on his face. "There's no need for thanks. We're friends, right?"

A small smile appeared on her lips when he said those words so sincerely to her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked with a hint of worry laced in his words.

"I'm feeling fine. It's just a slight fever."

"Well, just rest and get better. Tomorrow you can enjoy yourself," Sano said as he lightly brushed a few strands of her hair from her forehead. Kaoru graciously nodded her head slightly as she closed her eyes. For some reason, his presence was soothing to her and she quickly drifted off to sleep.

Sanosuke listened to the rhythm of her breathing and his eyes seemed to glaze over as he watched her.

These feelings that I feel right now . . I'm almost afraid.

The next day

"TODAY'S GROUP ACTIVITY WILL BEGIN NOW. EVERYONE CHANGE AND LINE UP IN THE DOJO!"

The loud voice over the microphone cut through the students' chatting and laughter. They stopped their activities as they headed to change their clothes. It was already the second day of camp and free time had ended meaning that the group activities would start. It seemed that most of the students had been waiting for this moment.

When the majority of the students had lined up, an instructor dressed in a white gi and dark blue hakama walked up to the front with a bokken loosely gripped within his hands. He scanned the students' faces with his wise and steady eyes.

"Okay everyone. Today is your introduction to kendo lesson. I'm pleased to see that some of you already seem excited with the idea. The art of kendo is an important part of culture for us. It evolved from the samurai sword of old. . ."

The instructor went on and after his "short" speech lasting the span of thirty minutes, he finally allowed the fidgety students into the dojo. Once they took off their shoes, they entered and sat down on the polished wooden floors. They looked up expectantly at the older teacher. However, there was still one student that stood by the doors.

"Please come in, miss," the old man stated as he looked at her.

The blue-eyed girl widened her eyes when she realized that she had completely zoned out. When Kaoru walked inside, a feeling of nostalgia seemed to overwhelm her. How long had it been since she had been in one? Once she kneeled down on the ground, the teacher began his lesson promptly.

"The basic rules of kendo are fairly simple: strike one of your opponent's targets with your weapon before your opponent strikes yours. The strike must be delivered with proper form and power, such that the proper part of your weapon makes contact with the target area just as your right foot strikes the floor and must be accompanied by your shouting the name of the point you were going for."

The students watched him with open-mouthed expressions.

The teacher chuckled. "These rules are easy to grasp, but they take a lifetime to master. Maybe even more than a lifetime. Since we only have a day for this lesson, I will show you basic stances and how you should strike with your bokken. Please watch me demonstrate."

The teacher turned around so that his side was facing the students. He gripped the bokken within his hands at his waist level and spread his feet so that they were a shoulder-length apart. He then angled his weapon so that the tip would be leveled at his imaginary opponents' neck. With a strong swish he brought down the bokken. The students could hear the wood cut through the air with such strength that they were in awe.

"Sensei, how long have you been doing kendo?" a male student asked.

"Since I was a little boy," the teacher replied. "Now, I want all of you to stand up and grab a bokken from the corner of the room. I want you to practice swinging it and get a feel for the weight of the weapon in your hands."

The young people all but seemed to run to grab their own bokken. With looks of childish excitement, they started to the swing the weapon up and down carelessly. As the teacher watched them, an irritated frown began to grow on his face. He then turned his attention to a girl who was in the corner.

The old man widened his eyes when he saw how perfect her form was and how she skillfully executed each stroke. He quickly went over to her.

"Miss, what's your name?"

Kaoru stopped mid-stroke as she turned her head to look at the older teacher. With a bow, she answered him. "Kamiya Kaoru, sir."

"Well, Kamiya-san you seem to already know kendo. Why don't you - -" The teacher stopped in the middle of his sentence when he heard two voices shouting from outside the door. He narrowed his eyes.

"Sagara-san! How could you get us lost?! You said you knew the way back!" A blue-eyed boy glared at his taller friend as he walked inside the dojo.

"Well, what did you expect me to do? Everything looked the same to me! I can't tell one damn tree from the other." Sanosuke grumbled as he crossed his arms in front of him and chewed on a twig. "And plus, you should blame that guy back there! He's the one that made us go out there in the first place!" The brown-haired man pointed behind him.

Kenshin strode inside with an expressionless face with his hands stuck in his pockets. He didn't pay any attention to the group of the students that were blatantly staring at him as he walked to the corner of the room. He leaned against the wall and watched the scene with disinterest in the purple hues of his eyes.

Kaoru found her blue eyes veering towards his. She wondered if he was okay and was about to walk over towards him when he heard the teacher's low voice.

"Boys! You are late for the lesson!" the old man said as he looked between the three young men that had just come. "And you're not even properly dressed! This is shameful!" He pointed at the casual clothes that the three of them were wearing.

Soujiro quickly went over and bowed. "I'm terribly sorry, sensei. Himura-san was in the woods and we had to go out to search for him. We got lost on the way back thanks to . ." The blue-eyed boy glanced at the spiky-haired man behind him with a hint of anger. "thanks to Sagara-san."

Sanosuke growled almost inaudibly in response as he quickly bowed. "Sorry, sensei."

"I see . . well, I'll relieve the both of you punishment for the time being. However . ." the teacher looked over at Kenshin who was standing at the corner of the room. "Himura-san, I presume?"

"Yes," he said in a deadpan voice as he uncrossed his arms. He walked over to the teacher and lightly bowed.

"Have you learned kendo before?"

"Yes."

The older man raised an eyebrow amused. He knew how to deal with these kinds of students. "For your punishment, I will have you fight against me," he announced. In these cases, the teachers were always able to thoroughly punish their students and embarrass them in front of their classmates. Maybe that would put the boy in his place.

"Pick up a bokken."

Kenshin walked over to the corner of the room and picked up his weapon. He then swiftly turned and strode to the front of the room facing the teacher. The teacher looked over at the students who had formed a semi-circle around both of the fighters.

"Now students. Watch and learn. When you have a match, you must always bow towards your opponent as a sign of humility and gratitude." The teacher then turned back around and both he and Kenshin bowed towards each other.

"Let's begin," the old man said with a smile.

With a ferocious yell, the teacher lunged forward first expecting to land a hit on his target's head. It would end the match quickly and then he could go on helping the others with the lesson. However, when he was swinging down the bokken, his opponent seemed to disappear from the front of his eyes. Where did that boy go? It was then that he felt a gust of wind come up from behind him. The old man quickly swerved out of the way and barely was able to dodge Kenshin's strike.

The old man widened his eyes. He had to take this one seriously.

Regaining his composure, he backed up a few steps with his bokken grasped tightly in his hands. His mind was focused so that the only thing he could see, hear, and think about was the opponent in front of him. The kendo teacher then rushed forward and began pounding blow after blow hoping that one would connect. But none did. Kenshin countered every single one.

Kaoru watched from the sidelines with awe written all over her face. She had never known that Kenshin had practiced kendo before. A feeling of respect began to fill her senses for him. After all, she too had practiced kendo since she was a young girl and understood just how difficult it was. However, the way Kenshin was executing his moves and dodging the teacher's attacks just made it seem so simple. She was almost envious.

"HYAAA!" the old man screamed as he breathed in and out roughly. He once again lunged forward, this time aiming for the boy's hand. However, he realized too late that he had created an opening on his side. With a feeling of shock, he almost waited for the imminent doom to approach.

However, it never did come.

The teacher's strike had connected against the boy's hand. The old man looked up at Himura and saw the young man bow towards him. Sounds of loud clapping could be heard filled the entire dojo.

"Thank you, sensei," Kenshin said. After bowing, he placed the bokken back in the corner of the room.

The teacher stood there dumbfounded. He knew that the other boy should have been the one that would have won. However . . however . .

Kaoru watched Kenshin with surprise in the blues of her eyes. She had seen it. At that last moment, Kenshin had allowed the teacher to win. Why would he do that?, she thought.

Kenshin walked back to his place at the corner of the room and leaned against the wall. The teacher kept his eyes on him for a moment longer before turning back to the class. "All right . . . now where was I?" He wrinkled his gray brows as he pondered upon where he had stopped since the three came inside. "Oh! That's right." He looked over at Kaoru and motioned for her to stand up front.

"Kamiya-san, would you be so kind to demonstrate the proper way to strike with a bokken?"

Kaoru felt her cheeks redden a bit when she heard that she was to be called up. Nervousness seemed to flutter in her stomach when she realized that Kenshin would also be watching.

"Kamiya-san?"

The young woman quickly nodded and walked up front. The feeling of the familiar weight of the weapon put her heart at ease. She leveled her bokken in front of her just as the teacher did and adjusted her feet. Taking a deep breath, she counted each strike.

"1. . 2 . .3 . ."

Each time her bokken was brought down, the students could hear the cutting of the stagnant air.

Kenshin was surprised when he heard the old man call out Kaoru's name. But when he watched her, he began to feel a sense of awe. He was seeing a part of her that he had never known. The way her blue eyes blazed with determination and precision, the way her hands firmly gripped the bokken, and the confidence in each stroke. He felt like he was seeing a part of her that she seemed to have hidden from everyone. She executed each strike, each move with grace, strength, and determination. Her fluid-like movements seemed to captivate him and the rest of the audience.

CLAP CLAP

"Thank you, Kamiya-san for that display. I hope your peers will now try to do better," the teacher said. as he pointedly looked at the couple of students who were playing around earlier Kaoru bowed towards the teacher in reply and then bowed towards the others. When she stood back up again, she wiped the sweat from off of her brow. She heaved a sigh of relief as she walked back towards the group of students.

"That was great, Kamiya-san!!" Soujiro exclaimed as he patted her on the back.

"I didn't know that you could do kendo, jou-chan!" Sanosuke interjected with admiration.

Kaoru smiled as she looked at the both of her friends. She had learned kendo from her father when she was very young before her father's business had taken over his life. Doing it again after so long, gave her a good feeling. She glanced over to the corner where Kenshin was standing. Kaoru found his lavender hues look at her and she quickly looked back down.

The rest of the lessons went smoothly and finally ended around night time. The students came bounding out of the dojo with enthusiasm highlighted in their faces. They didn't know how fun kendo could be. As Kaoru walked out, she saw Kenshin's form drift towards the woods again. It was getting cold and she didn't want him to get sick. Quickly grabbing a coat from its place in the dojo, she ran to catch up with him.

Kenshin strolled through the twists and turns of the woods until he finally came to a small clearing and stopped. A small smile appeared on his lips as he remembered the events from that day. It wasn't that bad participating in school activities after all. As he stood there with the nightly dew striking, he suddenly felt cold and fixed the collar of his clothes.

SNAP

Kenshin turned around surprised at the sudden sound of someone stepping on a twig. Squinting his eyes, he made out the faint figure of Kaoru walking towards him with a coat in one of her hands. She put the warm coat over his shoulders. As the clothing was put on him, he felt the coldness slowly disappearing.

Feeling a bit awkward, the girl turned to the side and gazed at the stars in the night sky. Kenshin noticed her look away and glimpsed at her. As her raven-dark hair flew about from the night wind, it revealed her face that had been covered up. Even though it was dark, he could still make out the faint contours of her face and see the sapphire blues of her eyes. It captivated him.

Kaoru turned around when she felt Kenshin's eyes on her. Her eyes widened when she noticed how intensely he was looking at her. However, she could not take her gaze away from his.

Kenshin took his eyes away from her first and turned around slightly flustered. Right at that moment, a tree branch caught on his shoulder and flung into Kaoru's face.

"Uh!"

The red-haired man turned around shocked and his coat fell off his shoulders from the sudden movement. He looked at the girl and noticed that she was covering one of her eyes with her hands. Not thinking about anything else, he rushed towards her. He then gently took her hand away and tilted her face up so he could examine her eye. It seemed the branch had made a small cut right above her right eye. Kenshin dug into his pocket and pulled out a small tissue and cleaned the cut. After a while, when he noticed that the girl stopped squinting from pain, he let out a small sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes . . . I'm okay, sir." Kaoru blinked her eyes. The cut still stung a little, but she did not feel it. The young man nodded when he heard her reply and slowly reached out his hand and touched the cut with utmost care. He couldn't help but be drawn in further to Kaoru's pure and innocent eyes as he touched the area around them. As he continued to watch her, there was a small stir in his pupils. Kenshin slowly leaned towards her face, placed his lips on the wounded area, and kissed it. Kaoru accepted the kiss naturally.

From afar, a bright light was radiating from the campfire that had just started.

Last day of camp

"Wow! Look at these pictures!!" one student exclaimed as she pointed to the amount of photographs posted on the bulletin board.

"This one is of Kamiya," another student said as he pointed the picture of the girl doing kendo.

"And Himura when he was fighting against the teacher." Someone else pointed to a picture on the upper right hand corner of the board.

"They're all so photogen . . HEY!!!"

While the students were talking amongst themselves, someone had pushed them aside. When the students saw that person standing next to them, they became pale and ran away. The stoic man ignored the students and looked at the photographs with riveting, cold eyes. As he fixed his eyes on one of the pictures, a small smile spread on his face. A mysterious gleam rose in his eyes as he recognized Kamiya Kaoru. He slowly took the picture off the board and stared at the girl within it.

You won't be smiling like this for long . .

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- To be continued

Author's Notes:

Hi! Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Thanks very much!! =D This chapter took longer since as I mentioned above, I had trouble coming up with the middle section. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter should come out much sooner. Also .. I hope the part about the kendo lesson was understandable.

Length of Story:

I'm a little more than halfway through this fic. So it'll probably be around 25-30 chapters.

Special thanks to HitokiriSky, Eternal-Senshi-S, Vic'chonn, Ryoga, Josh, OniTokage, De Lazy Lime, Paleah, nobody, super, cutie-chan-XD3, cyjj. Himura-chan, JouChan, andy, Jade Catseye, Brittanie Love, erica6060, Katana Midori, Chibi Kiki, Sugar-Crazy-Fox, Kiichi Dazai, S3R3nity, Ochanoko, InuLimbo, Kitsune Kenshin, Coodle, BabyKaoru-sama, RKfan86, Boomerang-chan, Falconess106, stranger, moderndaybattousai, kik-ting, Reignashii, Raeyn-chan, ;) britty (sorry I misspelled it last time), kimi.the.water.spirit, Dragon Master271, saotome, Mz.Amber Eyes, tintin-chan, rkfan246, KKfan4ever, Dreamer, rain angst, sweetyfanfic, Spike-Faye, bonessasan, KawaiiChica, Tenshi-no-Hana-chan, AmayaSaria, BelleDayNight, Kaoru4, and chibi frog for reviewing! Thanks so much for all of your support. I'll try to update as much as possible before fall semester starts. =D ::hugs and passes out Shishio-brand band-aids (for those everyday wounds)::