Thanks to ye reviewers!
Ame no Neko – I really appreciate your lovely words. I am a very lyrical writer, though I dim it down a little for fanfiction, although still keeping some of the elements of my writing in it. The pressure of "writing well" is less constraining when I write it. Thank you for the review comment, it helps a lot and gives me encouragement to continue.
MizzLee – Great rant hehe, well I'll try to answer your questions in this chapter. As for Kenshin just walking out, in here he is sort of the Battousai and mechanically does what others order him to do, because he is the assassin after all. For ch. 1 – Kaoru doesn't shoot her brother. Teehee.
Bradybunch4529 – Thank you. Yes, I really can't stand placing Kaoru as this pathetic wimp constantly screaming for help every five minutes. The Kaoru of RK is SO independent and she runs a dojo for boys to learn kendo. She is not some weepy lady as some people portray her! Kaoru kicks ass! All the way!
Once upon a time, titaness, in the form of a wood nymph, attempted to abduct a wandering redheaded rurouni named Kenshin. Kenshin, being the swift little bastard he is, flew out of her grasp in a most unhumanly graceful way. "Sorry de gozaru, but I have someone else to return to," he said in a most unhumanly courteous way. The wood nymph wept. And wept. And wept. And then accepted that Rurouni Kenshin did not belong to her. Then she went off in her happy little way to pick blackberries and dance around the meadow. The End.
Chapter 4:
By the Hearth
"K-Kenshin…" she murmured.
"Oh, so you remember?"
Her teeth rattled. "Yes." Under her coat a strip of pale blue nightdress shimmered with the rain.
"Why are you here? Have you come to kill me?"
Kenshin found himself flashing a smile.
"Of course I have come here to kill you. After all, it was you who attempted murder on my brother-in-law."
"Who I attempt murder on is none of your business."
"Hey, hey. I was only kidding."
"So the Battousai is human too. He makes bad jokes."
"The Battousai is a shape-shifter. He will be human when he wants to be."
They studied each other for several minutes. Each had the weight of cold lead.
"Why aren't you going inside?" He said quietly. "Pneumonia is a common cause of death these days."
"Just like you, right?" Her voice matched the coolness of his. "You still haven't told me why you were here. And whose blood you spilled so heartlessly."
"You call me heartless for spilling blood? Do you even remember my first impression of you?"
"Answer my question."
"It was an assignment. Confidential affairs. If I hadn't been here then these men would have tried to ambush your estate."
She raised her eyebrows. "You expect me to believe you were actually attempting to protect me?"
"Believe what you believe. I never waste my breath on lying, especially to some strange girl like you."
"I could have handled them myself. Without murdering, mind you."
"I suppose you could have. But it was my assignment."
They studied each other for a little while longer. By now his hair was completely soaked, his face silvery with moisture. She could make out the water of his eyes. A sliver of lightening branded the sky as thunder moaned like a drowned man. She shivered involuntarily.
Weird as it was, Kenshin felt the urge to lift the soaking girl up and kiss her until she was out of breath. But before he could move, she took his arm and dragged him back toward her house. "You are incredibly filthy," she said. "You're going to clean all that blood up. I can't stand it. I can't stand the smell. I don't know if I can stand you."
He entered a dim house with a marble floor of a cloudy amber pattern. Wreaths and picture frames hung over dusty furniture. The whole place had the scent of mist and wisteria.
She towed him into a large, stony-floored bathroom. Before he could protest, she threw a large bath towel at him. "Feel free to dirty it all you want," she called. "I'll throw it away afterwards anyway." She closed the door.
And sighed. Kaoru tried not to show her compulsive trembling. Truly she had never seen so much blood before in her entire life. For a second there the gleam of Battousai's eyes had engraved such a deep mark inside her—something so deep she could have described it as nothing short of death—or was it something beyond death? Even so, he had not shown any direct animosity toward her. She shook her head. Grabbing her towel, Kaoru stripped off her clothes and dried herself. After changing into a very conservative dress, she proceeded to build the fire.
She settled herself on the chair, warming herself in the glow of the hearth's heat. Something about fire always transfixed her. Fire looked so delicate, but it almost never was. So flimsy, so beautiful, so harmless any moth's wing would want to touch it, but it chars flesh and life. Almost like…her new friend, Himura Kenshin.
Speaking of which, the subject has entered the room clad in only a wet bath towel. Her wet bath towel. She was beginning to have second thoughts about throwing it away.
"Um…er…" he was stammering, somehow looking directly at her absolutely scarlet face. "My clothes are all wet…you don't suppose I can borrow any of yours, do you?"
It took a few seconds to digest his words, because she was actively invading every contour with her eyes, much as she tried with all her years of self-control to resist. Simply stunning, were the words to describe it. His muscles were taut but not showy, his skin drying in the fire-ember glow like golden armor.
Her voicebox managed to stammer out, "Himura Kenshin, you man-whore—!" as she threw a flurry of stiff pillows at him. "Cover yourself! Have you NO shame!"
"Oro—" he cried. "I wasn't trying to—"
"Trying to seduce me, are you! Do you honestly think I'm that CHEAP? Tricking me into hospitably letting you into my house while plotting to have your way with me this one night and then abandoning me—"
"I would never abandon you," he said. His words were crisp and clear. "Never."
Kaoru silenced herself. The fireplace hissed, crackling, the color and texture of autumn leaves.
"And besides," he said almost haughtily. "You dragged me in here. I absolutely had no choice and no say."
"You don't know me. And if you don't remember, the first time we met you abandoned me. You left the scene—on the orders of Enishi at that. You are so dense. I almost despise you."
"Like you said. Who you attempt murder on is none of my business. I had been looking for someone. There was not much time left. When I found out that someone was not you, obviously the reasonable thing to do would be to continue searching."
Irritably, she shook her head. "And who would that someone be? Your wife? For a second there you thought I was your wife?"
Kenshin paused. "Maybe so."
"And now you're stalking me."
Suddenly he grew irritable. "Look, lady, I have NO SAY in the assignments I receive."
She smiled sadly at him. "It seems like you don't have a say in much of anything. Who you kill, who you marry, what you wear for that matter. Tell me something, Kenshin, are you accustomed to doing things by other people's wills? Haven't you ever wished for freedom?"
He sat, scowling at her. "Experience has taught me never to wish for anything."
"That's a little sad. Didn't you have any wishes when you were younger? Aspirations?"
"I only wanted to be strong. That was my only goal. I don't remember my parents…Hiko raised me to think like a warrior." He snapped his head up. "Not like you'd care. You're only a stranger to me."
"Sometimes only strangers can give comfort," she said slowly. "I think I can go to my father's closet and find something for you to wear." Kaoru quickly left the room.
On the way up she made her way to the bathroom and quickly splashed her face with cold water. Get a grip, she told herself.
She went up the spiral staircase and entered her father's empty room. She opened the dusty wardrobe and studied it. On instinct she touched an authentic black Japanese-style hakama, an old gift from her grandfather to her father. She couldn't help imagining Kenshin in it, so she grabbed it and headed downstairs.
"Here's a robe-thing, don't know if it will fit but…"
She was shocked to see him gone from the living room.
That dumbbutt, she muttered. After saying he'd never abandon me…
Kaoru stopped to see his lissome figure examining the picture frames outside her living room.
"Is this your father?" he said.
"Yes, it is…"
"Funny. I've never seen his face before."
"Not a lot of people have."
"You look really happy," he said, a hint of a smile on his lips.
"I was."
"Do you live here alone?"
"Yes. My father…" she paused. Here she was, almost telling the Battousai, this famed hotokiri, a man who just slaughtered maybe six people in front of her house late at night during a thunderstorm, a man whom she invited inside and is now clothed in her towel, a man who brought shudders to her bones and soul—here she was, almost telling him the truth. She almost hit herself.
"…Is always on business trips. I never see him anymore."
"Oh." He frowned. "Does he visit you, at least?"
"Yes. Occasionally."
"I see."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yes."
"Why did you shoot Yukishiro Enishi tonight?"
"I thought you and I both agreed that who I attempt murder on is none of your business."
"Now you got me curious. Let me tell you, curiosity on my part is a rarity."
"Would saying that he's a psychotic bastard help?"
"Not really."
"Congratulations on having a hyena for a new brother. God knows I don't envy you."
"Much obliged."
Long pause.
She looked away as he put on the black hakama. It fit him snugly. She continued to look away, for fear of what she would do if she saw him right then.
"Thank you, Kaoru."
She stiffened. "How did you know my name? I never told you it."
"I've been around. I think I would know the name of Kamiya's daughter fairly easily," he lied.
"Have you been out there killing around my house all the time!" She asked.
"No. Tonight was the first time, I swear."
"Good. Next time, would you please just telegraph me or something?"
"An assignment is an assignment. I can't leave it to a girl like you. No matter what you think."
"It isn't what I think. It's what I can do. My father trained me to be this way. I can't accept any help…I've been fine on my own all this time."
"Is that what freedom is to you?"
"For most of my life, solitude has been my freedom."
"Solitude…" "I don't suppose you know real solitude to me."
"I don't suppose so either."
"Then…wouldn't you like to know?" his soft voice said.
She slowly turned around from her seat to find him right in front of her, his nose just inches away from hers. His breath fanned her face like warm bath vapor. For a second Kaoru was surprised to see that up close, his eyes were a smoky lavender. Her finger tentatively stopped his lips a hair's breadth before they reached hers.
"Go home…to your wife," she whispered.
His eyes lost all color before they reverted back to their usual coppery shade. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.
"Don't be."
She walked him to the door, their footsteps echoing. Outside, the rain was light again. Before he left, she called after him, "I do expect you to return it to me. It is my father's, not mine."
"I will."
"I don't want to see a single thread misplaced or a paper cut's worth of blood on it."
"Mm."
Kaoru watched as the Battousai's silhouette disappeared into the dew-laden night. Closing the door, she almost fell into herself. Holy shit. This is going to harass my brain for a long time.