"You are Not Alone…"
Khmer Moon Blossoms
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Or Kendo. Or Barbie or Ken dolls.
Author's Notes: Read and Review!
Okay, here's an explanation.
Kenshin (can we imagine, here?) was too slow to catch Kaoru from Enishi. I'm truly sorry. Fluff in the next chapter, promise! They will eventually get their kiss….or maybe not….still thinking about it….
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Chapter Ten
Kenshin's POV
I ran to Kaoru's side and picked her up, placing her head onto my shoulder. She was breathing unevenly, her breaths blowing softly against my neck. I held her waist and pulled her onto my lap. I kissed her on the forehead, hoping she would wake up soon. I was actually half grateful that she was asleep; she would never know I had kissed her. Sometimes, it was times like this when I wished I could act like I really wanted to act in front of Kaoru without blushing or blubber off like a maniac. But I knew if she was awake, I would have fumbled around, looking for an explanation of why my lips had come in contact of her forehead. I brushed off the thought when Kaoru stirred a little in my arms.
Her head had moved closer towards my neck, seeking warmth. I laid my chin onto the skin right above her eyelids.
And Enishi…
The coward ran off…
I let out a growl at the thought of Enishi touching my Kaoru. I turned back to her, the angel seemed more asleep than unconscious. I rubbed my cheek across hers and then lifted my head away. She wasn't awake still.
"Come on, Kaoru," I said. "Be strong,"
I knew perfectly well she would be.
Why was I so slow? I cursed under my breath, and threw out another string of nasty words through my mind. If I had been there….
I couldn't help but stare at her angelic face. Her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly open in order to let her breathe. I stared at her lips, a luscious pink. But her lip gloss was smeared due to Enishi.
I cursed Enishi through my mind. That idiot.
I wanted so much…just to bend down and kiss those lips and awaken my princess.
But I would never take advantage of her that way.
A few seconds passed, and I sat there beside her, not knowing what to do.
But I knew I wasn't going to leave her. I sat there, waiting for her to wake up. I occasionally shook her and talked to her in a hushed whisper, but Kaoru didn't waken. I kept staring at her, making sure she was still breathing.
Why was I so slow in saving her?
After a few long minutes, Kaoru's eyes fluttered open. I smiled and pulled her up into a sitting position. She gasped, looking around in alert. I assumed she was still fearing Enishi was nearby.
I held her close to me, hugging her and rubbing her back. "It's okay. He's gone. He's not here. I am,"
She seemed to loose some of her tension from her shoulders and she relaxed against me. Her hands crawled up to my shoulders and she clutched me tight.
"Ken…shin…" She whimpered against my hair. I clutched her tight.
"I'm here. I'm here." I said repeatedly; silently wishing that announcing and ensuring my presence to her would make her feel more safe.
And the situation seemed so much like how we met the first time…except Kaoru knew that she was not alone this time.
In anything she did….I will always be there for her…
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Kaoru's POV
I hugged Kenshin as if he were the last thing that connected me to life. His hair covered my vision, and I felt his hand holding me securely against him.
He kept telling me that he was here for me, and those simple words: "I'm here" made me feel like the world stopped in time for me and Kenshin to get a chance to be alone together.
Eventually, he pulled me up to my feet. The sudden body motion caused my head to throb, and I held it with one hand, pressuring my palm against it to stop the pain.
"Are you alright?" he asked me worriedly.
"I'm fine." I said absently. I felt my cheeks heat up; not from Enishi at all, but the sudden rememberance that stuffed itself into my head.
"Kenshin, what about Kendo practice?" I shouted at him.
He looked at me, surprised. "How could you think about that at a time like this?"
"Are you late?" I asked, ignoring his question.
"We've already missed the practice." He told me. "Let's go home. We shouldn't worry about it."
I felt guilt wash over me.
"If I hadn't been so—weak…" I spat out the word, feeling strange to talk of myself this way.
"No, no. It's alright," Kenshin let out a sigh and stood up. "Don't worry about it,"
I nodded and followed him out of the school gates. I kept close to him, a small fear kept causing me to look around in case Enishi should pop up again.
Kenshin watched me look around in blood-threatening alert and took my hand. I looked at his hand clamped over my pale one. My eyes traveled up his arm to his face.
"I'm right here, Kaoru." He said reassuringly. "he won't get you,"
I let out a small, relieved sigh. "Thank you, Kenshin." I clutched his hand.
He suddenly had a look of question plastered upon his face. "What will your father say about what happened?"
Dad.
He was much too strict. I hadn't thought about getting home and telling him the events.
To be honest, I wasn't sure of my father's actions. His face seemed so distant now after mom left. His pupils were always so far away, I sometimes feared that he was no longer on Earth. I wasn't sure…would he take Enishi's actions and create a huge problem out of it? Would he ignore the problem and just tell me to be careful?
I was afraid. If father ignored the situation, it would definitely happen again. I feared the worst. I was actually afraid to tell Father, not knowing what his answer might be. Either way, the paths were horrible all the same.
There was only one thing I knew. Father had become much stricter than before. We did not leave the house unattended. We went everywhere together, in our own car.
None of us were allowed to ever take a taxi.
And my brothers and I did not contradict our father. We understood he only wanted the best for us. But it was hard.
"I'm not telling him anything," I announced. Kenshin only stared hard at me.
"Kaoru, it's not safe to keep something like this away from your father." He advised.
"I…" I began.
"You should just tell him." Kenshin said, cutting me off. I knew he wanted the best for me too, just like Father. But I couldn't…
"Alright, I will," I heard myself say.
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Kaoru's POV
I stepped into my house and took a deep breath. My father came towards me, scowling.
"Kaoru Kamiya," he seethed.
I winced and slowly met his gaze. "Yes, Father?"
"Why were you late getting here?" he tapped his foot onto the ground and placed his hands on his hips. He looked like a woman…
"I-I…" I pushed out.
Enishi was harassing me…
"I had to go to my locker late,dad. I was about to come home, but I forgot a few books. Then, I was talking to a friend. I came home as soon as I could."
His face softened, buying my lie.
"That Kenshin kid, I presume?"
"Y-yes," I stuttered out, hoping it didn't blow my cover.
"That's fine. I trust the boy. He's a great fellow," My father bellowed and came to me, ruffling my hair just like he used to when Mom was with us….
I haven't felt his hand on my head in a long time. I smiled.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, Kaoru." My Father lowered his tone into a soft whisper. "I was just…worried. That's all."
"It's alright, dad,"
"No, no," My father straightened and sighed. "It's not alright. I guess I've just been a little…stressed out…"
I know. I thought silently. Haven't we all?
We lost something dear to us…so dear. I never thought I could even bring myself through the front door that night, to tell of the horrible news to my awaiting, my unknowing family.
I thought I could just lay there in Mom's pool of blood with her…going wherever she was…I never wanted to leave her side.
In one moment of insanity, when I got home and went into my room that night, I had almost thought about not washing my hands. I had stood there for several minutes in front of the mirror, staring at my fingers caked with dried blood from my mother's body. I slowly reached for the sink and then jerked my hand back. I didn't want to wash it away. It was all I had left of her…
Eventually, Sano barged into my room to check on me. I got a hold of myself and washed the blood off of my hands, shaking away the blur in my eyes. I watched the pink water swirl around dizzily down the drain.
It was different now. She wasn't here at all….she was gone.
I stood in front of Father and then ran into his arms. I choked out a few sobs, the throbbing headache coming back into my head.
My father kneeled down to my size and hugged me, rubbing my back just like he did when I was little. He shushed me, whispering into my ear.
My mother's strength finally gave out. The tears I had held in now poured out like a river. My father rubbed my back.
"Don't cry," he said, taking my backpack and placing it at his feet. He pulled away, looking at me straight in the eye.
"You've been very strong since…"
"I know," I said, interrupting. "But how can you call me strong now?" I said, wiping away a few tears.
"Kaoru, 'Tears doesn't make a person weak'. Everyone cries." He whispered. "Now, what had happened to her…we're not going to fall through the same mistake again. I'm sorry for being so careful all the time. To be too careful, we can't enjoy life that way, now can we?"
"No," I choked out.
"We won't make the same mistake, but we won't be too careful either. Life was made to live, understand?"
"Yes,"
"Come on." He took my hand. I felt like daddy's little girl again. I took his hand and followed him into the kitchen. "Let's go make dinner."
I wiped away the few remaining tears and smiled. "Yes, dad."
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Kenshin's POV
I walked into the house and shut the door absently.
A sudden force—actually, two, suffocated both of my legs and pulled me towards the living room.
I let out a laugh as I looked down to see Ayame and Suzume clutching my legs.
"Kenni!" Ayami shouted, brushing her braids away from her face. The younger one, Suzume, also shouted my nickname.
"Kenni home!"
I bent down to their short eye level and laughed, giving both of them a kiss on the forehead.
"Hey, there you two."
"Play, Kenni?" Suzumi burbled out, holding up her doll.
"Maybe later," I whispered. "Kenni has to go do homework. Why don't you go play with Tsubame?"
"Okay," The two said in unison and ran directly into my sister's room down the hall.
"Kenshin, is that you?" a voice called from the kitchen in a midst of spraying and sizzling sounds.
"Yes, mom," I yelled as I walked into the kitchen. My mother wiped off a bead of sweat.
"Honey, go upstairs and do your homework quickly. Then help me finish up dinner before your father arrives,"
"Yes mom," I said, running upstairs into my room.
I froze once I opened the door, seeing my older sister in my room.
"Hey, Megumi," I said straight out confused. "What are you…"
She cut me off by holding up her hand. She was standing up straight, hands on her hips. Her scowl accompanied her pursed lips into an angry expression.
"I got a call from Tomoe today." She said carefully.
I put my backpack down onto the floor, avoiding her gaze. "What did she say?" I said, putting on the 'stupid' act.
"Seems like things aren't going well between you two."
"Well, there were a few rough times…."
"Kenshin! How could you break up with her? Mom and Dad wanted you two to be sweethearts through college!" she shouted, carrying on straight to the point.
I put a finger to my lips, warning her to be quiet.
"Mom might hear," I explained. Her face swirled with more anger than before.
"Let her very well hear then! You deserve it! How could you…" she stopped and let her hand tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She took in a deep breath, trying to control her anger. She pointed her index finger to the bed, ordering me to sit. I obeyed, not wanting to trigger her anger any more than it already has.
She stood over me, making me feel small. I cringed into my mattress.
"Just tell me…what went wrong?"
I gulped as I looked at her. "I don't love her,"
I knew it was the wrong answer.
But it was the truth.
Megumi sighed, rubbing her head. "You know it would've made Mom and Dad happy, right?"
I thought about living a life without Kaoru….
I tried to imagine living in the same house married to a woman who was a stranger to me…someone who I didn't want to tell my secrets to…
My blood began to boil.
"What about me?" I stood up to stare challengingly at her. "What about my happiness? I don't love Tomoe! I don't!"
"You had better calm down," Megumi hissed, glaring daggers at me. I sat down, looking out the window and narrowing my eyes. I clenched my fists, trying to release some anger.
"Enishi and I got into a fight today," I said out of nowhere. "He's angry because I broke up with Tomoe."
"You see?" Megumi said, looking at me as if I were stupid. "You've proven my own point! You see the trouble you've caused? You are so dead lucky I didn't give the phone to Mom. She would've flipped at hearing Tomoe tell the story of your break up."
"You didn't?" I asked stupidly, looking at her.
"I didn't. I figured you could tell them on your own."
I groaned. Maybe having Tomoe tell my parents is better than having me confront them.
"Look, do what you want. You're sixteen, for Pete's sake!" Megumi yelled, throwing her arms into the air. "Tell them whenever. I have nothing to do with this. I just can't believe you risked Mom's and Dad's happiness for your own."
She softened as she seemed to remember something. "Don't tell me you got suspended from school."
"No. I didn't. Enishi did."
Megumi sighed in relief. "You're going to have to tell them everything sooner or later." She said, emphasizing the word 'everything'.
"Later is better than sooner," I whispered.
"Whatever. If you don't cough it up soon, though, Kenshin, then I will." Megumi walked out of my room, slamming the door. The force of the door exerted a huge gust of air upon my face.
I sat there, silence as my friend. I knew I would have to tell them about Kaoru…Tomoe…Enishi….everything.
My mind swirled as I attempted to formulate a plan to tell my parents about everything. I let out a moan. How were they going to take it?
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Kaoru's POV
I stared at my family. We were laughing again. Sano; trying to hold in his loud guffaws. Yahiko, trying to muffle his giggles. My father continued telling his joke he had heard from work.
Honestly, I tuned it out, just letting a few chuckles ruffle out of my lips. Pretending to listen. Really, I was just happy to see my family alive again.
I silently thanked my father for livening up our life now. He understood.
Before, we were afraid to move on without our mother. In our hearts, whenever our family was together, it was like we were all silently mourning over our loss, but we hid it under thick veils of barriered emotions. But doing so only made our sadness more obvious to ourselves, and each other. We were like a dead family who had lost all connection with the thread of life. That missing thread was my mother.
But now, that single thread was still part of us; in our hearts, we just never looked there.
Wait.
How could I have mom within me; when I had lost her? I had cried…lost her courage…lost her strength. It was all I had left of her. I stared down at my plate, picking up my fork and stabbing my peas confusedly. A thick, chunky green oozed from out of the peas' thin shell.
Did I lose her?
A thick lump in my throat and a burning in my eyes started to irritate me. I pushed away from the table, standing up.
"May I be excused?"
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Kenshin's POV
I held the doll with my index and thumb at the waist, making it dance across the floor towards Suzume. I was in their small, pink room, laying flat on my stomach and propped up on one lazy elbow.
The joys of being a brother.
"Kenni! You can be him!" Ayame held up a Ken doll and shoved it into my hand; taking the girl doll I had before out of my grasp.
"Okay," I said cheerfully. "I'm not good at girl voices anyway,"
Ayame held up her Barbie. "Barbie is going to fall in love with Ken because he always protects her,"
I smiled. "Okay." I said, playing along. I moved Ken so that it seemed that the doll was standing in front of the girl doll.
"Who is he saving her from?" I asked, looking around for some monster doll.
Suzume shoved another doll in my face. It was the same Ken doll, but with darker hair.
"Him,"
I laughed. "Why him?" I thought of Enishi.
"He's been mean to her, pushing her and stuff." Ayame piped up.
I pulled my own Ken doll and started to kick the darker doll, pushing out small whizzing and karate noises from my mouth. I secretly raged in my head, seeing Enishi's face on the doll. I wanted to clobber it to death, but was able to hold in my anger; not wanting to frighten my sisters. Besides, what good would beating up a plastic doll do?
I wasn't going to be slow this time. I was going to kill Enishi--the doll the first chance I got.
"Yay!" Ayame squealed. "She's saved! Ken needs a reward!" She pushed her Barbie doll's face into Ken's face, making sucking noises.
A kiss.
I laughed and watched my joyful sisters giggle along with me in happiness.
I pulled back, putting the Ken doll back on the floor, a stupid grin appearing onto my face. I looked out the dark window with distant eyes.
Wonder where my reward was…
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Author's Notes: Okay, that's enough for now! See ya next chapter!
Oh…and I guess Kenshin shouldn't really deserve a kiss…he didn't save Kaoru quick enough…
But he's lost in his own bliss…let him dream, okay?
Read and Review!
