It was he. The man who harassed Kaoru yesterday was there sitting on a rock outside the dojo, leaning on the walls. He looked so serene and peaceful and he had a certain glow that made him look unreal. His hands lay lazily atop his lap with his fingers interlocking. To someone, he looked like a man reminiscing on long lost memories buried in the threshold of sadness. With a faraway look he gazed at the empty horizon in front of him as every now and then a smile would creep to his face. Kenshin didn't know why, but everything about him seemed to make him angry.
At that moment, seeing him so guiltless about what he did, he remembered Kaoru's sad state last night. Those tears falling to her cheeks and the mournful mumbling of something he could not distinguish. Her heart wrenching sobs and the tightening of her fists as she let out her anguish in the best way she could. Everything that she was that night, an epitome of a suffering soul, killed not only the gaiety in her eyes, her voice and in her movements, it also broke his wounded quivering soul whose only redemption is the light she brings to the darkness of his soul.
Maybe Kaoru was crying because of him, maybe it wasn't the letter; maybe it was the way she had cried. He could think of many reasons why he was so angry with him. One thing is true; he became angry mostly because he got away with it. The feeling of failing to avenge his most precious light from the corruption of everything else was suffering at its purest.
It was out of character for the rurouni to drive a punch all of a sudden to an unsuspecting victim, that moment was an exception. He had seen him do his work, he had seen the woman he loves cry but he was not letting this man get away once again. He was not going to let it happen.
The man only tilted his head a bit to the side and with that quick yet graceful movement, he eluded Kenshin's lethal punch. The rurouni was so surprised with how good the man's reflexes were. After all, he was renowned for his speed aside from his technique. The man still had on his face that serene smile that became more and more mysterious as the seconds passed while Kenshin stared unbelievingly at him.
Finally he looked at Kenshin directly in the eye as if he had only noticed him to be there. "It's useless, you can't hurt me." For some reason, Kenshin believed his words and he let his fist drop to his side before he even thought of attempting another punch which surprisingly, deep inside, he knew would be futile. As to why, he had no idea.
"You're angry that I kissed her?" Kenshin gave him a look that had the word "Duh!" written all over it. The man was really getting on his nerves. He hated everything about him. He hated how his dark hair falls over his eyes without sacrificing his looks. How his dark eyes sparkle with a secret thought that seems to say that it would be kept locked forever. He hated how a tiny dimple peeks out every time his lips curved upward in a lazy way as he thought of things that brought smiles to his face and warmth to his heart.
"I couldn't stop myself. She was so beautiful and her cheeks were so soft and warm...I'm sure you wanted to do the same thing." he said in a breathy voice as if he was far off in dreamland and what was worse was that he had Kaoru on mind.
"Not without her consent." Kenshin blurted out. He couldn't believe that this man was even lasting this long without getting hurt. He balled his fist again and was breathing more heavily by the minute as he tried reminding himself to be civil and not attack the man all of a sudden. He stood still for a moment and calmed himself. He only needed to think about Kaoru. If he created chaos and pandemonium here Kaoru would be there in a snap and she'll have to see that man. And who knows what will happen after that?
"Yes, not without her consent..." he only repeated bringing one hand to his chin in a thoughtful manner as if comprehending every word he said.
"I'm really sorry for taking advantage of her." he finally said. Kenshin was glad he apologized. At least he had more reason to remind himself to not hurt the man.
"You should be telling that to Miss Kaoru, yourself." was the only thing he could reply. Although he wouldn't agree to him seeing Kaoru, he guessed that maybe that was best. Even though Kaoru didn't say anything about the direct cause of her sudden emotional collapse being a harassing male, he still thought that it would be better for Kaoru to be the one who does the forgiving or condemning.
The man shook his head. "I'm afraid I'll upset her when she sees me." the man's voice suddenly plunging to a mellow note. His head was bowed and those gleaming ebony eyes were hidden beneath his bangs as one hand went to his forehead that posed an image of frustration. His shoulders hung on loosely and almost hunched as he sat there, a lonely picture.
"She already is..." Kenshin said in a distant voice, so cold and silent was it that one would think that no words were uttered at all. No matter how low his voice was, no matter how soft he spoke, he could never hide the bitterness dripping from every word he let go. So small were those words but so strong were their impact on the stranger that he could feel that Kenshin was hurting more than he liked to show.
The man only looked at him, his face void of any emotions. He reached out to his side and there emerged a basket with a flower in it. So beautiful was it that it seemed to evoke light to itself and made the sun' rays its own glow. It was purity at its most fitting symbolism. The way the light played on the tiny droplets of water resting on its petals caught an image familiar to Kenshin. The flower seemed so much like Kaoru, the tiny droplets being her tears. It was beautiful and so is Kaoru. Remembering Kaoru's tears brought sadness to Kenshin's eyes and the flower seemed to be sad too.
"These are tulips. They're very beautiful, don't you agree?" The stranger said without looking at him. The man's eyes were looking at one thing only. For some reason the flower brought out of him the same feelings it did to Kenshin. What was there was sadness, nothing but sadness.
Kenshin only nodded. The tulips were indeed beautiful. He was only thinking how wonderful a gift it would be to Kaoru when unexpectedly, the man gave it to him. He only stared for a few moments wondering whether there was something incredibly aghast about the man's sexuality. The man only smiled again as if he had read Kenshin's thoughts.
"Give this to the young lady, she would love it, I swear." Kenshin took it from him hesitantly unsure whether he should take it and thank him or decline and finally walk away from this. "What makes you think so?" he asked out of nothing else to say.
"Tulips have amazing qualities that appeal to women. Everybody knows that if you want a woman to like you, you should give her flowers. That's the key." Of course Kenshin knew that flowers do have an effect on women and everything else the stranger was saying and he didn't had to be talked to like an inexperienced adolescent.
But, for some reason, Kenshin believed the man. One look at the flower and he could almost see Kaoru smiling in gratitude as he handed it to her and finally she would smile again. He could almost picture her bringing the beautiful thing to her nose and sniffing the sweet smell and soon those pretty glows on her face would appear. She would smile shyly and would refuse to meet his eyes for long moments but nevertheless she would be overwhelmed.
"Tell her they're from you." the man winked at him. Again, the picture of Kaoru smiling warmed his heart. He could not wait to see that look on her face again. Giving her flowers had worked before for him when he accidentally proposed to her why shouldn't it now?
Kenshin finally took the flowers from the man, thanked him and decided to come inside the dojo to prepare his surprise. After a few moments, he stopped on his tracks and looked back at the stranger. He had forgotten to ask the man's name but when he looked back to the spot where he was, the man was gone.
When Kaoru came back and saw the flowers left by Kenshin in her room, she took it and smelled it just the way Kenshin imagined she would. The smell brought warmth into her heart and she couldn't help but smile. The news she received yesterday made her feel so alone that she forgot all about Kenshin and her friends. Calming herself before she jumped to Kenshin in delight she took in deep breaths and tried her best to control her emotions. When she came out, she was the picture of a polite lady walking graciously towards her friends. Upon seeing her glowing face, a great improvement from last night's, Kenshin had never been more fascinated in his life.
During lunch, she sat on her usual seat next to Kenshin. She smiled demurely at him and he returned her smile. Kaoru could be very modest at times like these. All she needed was a simple gesture of love. They both ate peacefully, not minding Yahiko who was eating like a pig and Sano, who came in order to get his free food.
"Kenshin, thanks for the flowers..." she said while smiling. It was the most priceless thing on earth. Again, Kenshin felt the cold wind. Sano asked them if they felt the same things.
"Maybe it's going to rain..." Yahiko commented as he continued to gnaw on his food.
That night it did.