Disclaimer: Wouldn't it be kind of cool if I was Watsuki? No? Ah, well then, I guess you can tell I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Wouldn't it be cool, though, if I did? No? Oh…okay then.
A/N: I guess you guys probably know what's going on with this fic. If you don't, check my bio.
Tanoshimu!
Chapter 1:
The Moth
-
Sanosuke looked around at the dusty road ahead of him. Wind rustled his bristly brown hair, but he paid it no mind. There he was, in a place so familiar to him, yet he couldn't even find a good place to eat.
He imagined the dojo. Jou-chan would be cooking lunch, Yahiko, who would be red and breathless from training, would tease her mercilessly. Kenshin and the koneko would be trying to stop Kaoru from burning the dojo down…
That was right. The dojo had only just been restored. It was mostly the same place from before the arsonists burned it down, but there were some noticeable renovations. Two new bedrooms had been added, and the dojo gate, which had always been crooked and squeaky was now silent as it opened. For some inexplicable reason, that one fact made Sano very sad. He had loved the homeliness of the dojo, and the comforting way the gate creaked when he would step inside, uninvited. It was as if the unoiled gate was saying something he couldn't. I'm here, this is home.
There was no dojo gate to announce his presence in this desolate town. And that, he supposed, was why he would have to do it himself. And him being Sano, and no other person, he would have to do it in a dramatic way. He was, after all, the man with evil on his back.
Sano picked up pace again and strolled down the path, barely making out a restaurant in the distance. He whistled, quite off-key, and surged forward, trying to keep his thoughts ahead and not behind at the dojo and his friends and…
Yes, all right, a certain inky-haired doctor floated somewhere in the back of his mind always. He had always thought of her like the little flowers that grew in the path. They had been trodden over, it was true, but they were okay, and they were still beautiful. And Sano cared enough to at least step around them, because they deserved that much.
But lately she had been representing a moth in his mind. Always flitting around, disturbing whatever peace he could find. An annoyance, something that just would not leave. Just a moth…except, a very exquisite moth, one that glided gracefully, one that could listen and sometimes, if only sometimes, not make a witty comment in the end.
All right, so maybe Sanosuke was more of a moth. He was the moth, drawn to her light, even if it killed him. Her light would never die. But maybe, just this once, he was straying from her comfort, from the warm, golden glow. Turning from the light, into the darkness that he could not fathom. But that was what he was, an extremely stupid moth. And yes, maybe rather than straying, he was running.
Running….
Running? Yes, he was running after all. And he knew what from. A guy like him could only take so much. But Kenshin, well, Kenshin could take it all. He had been through hell—and back—countless times. Well, Sano had too, at that. But he wasn't Kenshin. He was only a runaway son of a farmer. Just a kid who thought he knew the world, and towed evil around on his back.
But one day…one day he would know the world. Just…not yet. He couldn't be running, because then all he would see is a blur of many things mixing together.
A blur was definitely how Sano would describe his last few weeks in Tokyo. It was kind of funny, the way the dojo was. One second, everything was normal…boring, even. They did chores, they ate good food from the Akabeko, they ate bad food from Kaoru…Naruku trained, Kenshin taught…if you could call it that. Yahiko trained, Kaoru taught.
Kaoru taught. That, Sano noted, was the beginning of their problems.
It had started March third, just two months and nine days short of their three-year anniversary since Kenshin had left for Kyoto, and said goodbye to Kaoru amongst the fireflies. It had really been three years since Shishio and his men, hadn't it? And nearing one year since Naruku had, quite literally tripped over the dojo inhabitants and entered their life. Six months or so since they had returned to Tokyo from Hakone Springs to find the dojo burned down, and then gone to Kyoto where Nishiwaki had prepared to wage war on Japan…and then Nishiwaki had turned his idle forces on them…and then they had kicked their asses, which had not been as easy as Sano maybe liked to make it out to be. Four months since Genwa Daiomoru had marched a crusade on them, for more personal reasons. Well, okay, maybe putting Kaoru in a coma didn't count as marching a crusade, but it had certainly been personal. And once they had got up that forsaken mountain, well, all hell had broken loose.
But, by March third, thirteenth year of the Meiji, the members of the Kenshin-gumi had basically gotten over these events, and like elastic bounced back to their boring old lives. Which maybe weren't so boring if you noticed Yahiko increasing steadily in swordsmanship and Kaoru grinning every time Shinomori's name was mentioned…and if you felt that odd aura from Kenshin and Naruku when they were down by the river training…or if you were Sano and were the object of Megumi's affections and often receiver of her sweet kisses…or sometimes heated yells. But either way.
And on March third, eighteen eighty Kaoru had received a visitor. And then another. And another. And soon the Kamiya dojo was packed with young men from eleven o'clock in the morning to four or five in the afternoon, all of them seeking training from the self-proclaimed (or so Sano presumed) 'Rose of Kenjutsu.'
And though Sano was tempted to trace it back even farther, Kaoru's kenjutsu title was the beginning of it all. It wasn't the only cause, but it marked the point where all of it had started.
-
Kaoru paced up and down the line of students, scrutinizing and watching each perform their practice swings.
"Back straight, Anzai!" Kaoru bellowed, cuffing the student in the small of his back. He only barely winced, but straightened after that. "You're doing well, Reijiro-kun," Kaoru praised the boy with slate colored hair. "Giichi-kun, eyes ahead, not on Momoru-kun," She instructed the bumbling boy, who, at fourteen, could barely even hold a shinai. Momoru, who was at least five years older than either Giichi or Kaoru herself, was more experienced and many of the younger boys had taken to following whatever he was doing. He flashed a smile at Kaoru as she passed him.
"Wow Kaoru!" Yahiko trotted to her side enthusiastically. "You really do know how to work them."
Kaoru returned this compliment with a sly smile. "Hey. How do you think you got so good?"
He grinned back at her, and a few of the other students grumbled, falling back on their assumption that the 'spiky-haired brat' was a student Kaoru favored.
"Lunch break, everyone!" she yelled, and the swishing of a dozen shinai cutting through the air were silenced. Giichi, the poor boy, dropped his and it landed promptly on his foot.
The seventeen boys (and young men) filed out of the drill hall, each carefully placing their shinai in the racks that leaned against the wall.
Kaoru's blue eyes sparkled as she followed them out. She was breathless with excitement. "Can you believe it?" she chatted enthusiastically to Yahiko. "Seventeen new students! Seventeen! This is better than I could have hoped for, Yahiko! And all in just two weeks! My father would be so proud if he could see the dojo now!"
"Sure, Kaoru," Yahiko replied off-handedly. Kaoru quieted almost immediately. She whirled on Yahiko, and jabbed a finger at him.
"All right, what is it you want?" she demanded.
Yahiko blinked, his brown eyes wide, looking utterly taken aback. "Nothing, I don't want anything!"
"Yes you do! You are never this nice and you always make fun of me!" Kaoru retorted in a near-whiney voice.
"Oh come on, that's only when you cook and Kenshin's made lunch today!" Yahiko snapped. "Besides, I am proud of the Kamiya Kasshin Style anyway! I mean, now that you don't only have one bratty kid as a student…"
"Aha! So you admit it. You are a brat!" Kaoru shot back. By this time, their heated yelling had reached the ears of eight students who were trailed behind the others. Soon all seventeen of them had stopped in their tracks to turn and stare at their assistant master.
Kaoru blushed when she noticed this, and Yahiko cut off his insult as well.
"Miiiina-saaaaan!" Came Naruku's joyful cry and she pushed her way out of the dojo, carrying a large tray full of snacks. "Lunch is ready!"
"That it is!" Kenshin put in from inside the dojo.
Most of the students ran for the red-tressed girl, but she made a loud whistling noise before they could get far. Kenshin emerged from the dojo as well, and Naruku shoved the tray of food into his arms. Emitting a small 'oro' Kenshin steadied himself and looked on.
"You know the drill, guys!" Naruku hollered, brandishing her ladle. "Single file! Those with money for lunch, in the front! We'll see if there's any left for you freeloaders after…If you've brought your own lunch, I commend you, for you have far succeeded many of us who cannot cook. Get your food and go over there!" She screeched, whirling toward the porch and the courtyard, raising the ladle above her head. "If you spill, there's hell to pay!"
"Naruku-dono," Kenshin set a hand on her shoulder to calm her. "That's good enough. It doesn't impress them anymore, that it doesn't."
"Oh." Ever since Kaoru had got her new students, Naruku had found them highly uninteresting and inconvenient. In order to cheer herself up, she had taken to playing lunch lady. The first time she had barked all those rules at them, the students had been mostly bewildered, some amused and some cowering in fear, like Giichi. Now, though, they were used to her antics and simply slouched in the line, indifferent to her bellowing.
Disappointed with the lack of response, Naruku sighed and reached for a rabbit-shaped onigiri and napkin to hand to each student as they passed by her in their specifically single-file line. Beside her, Kenshin was ladling miso soup into their outstretched bowls. Naruku cast a glance at him, wondering what possessed him to make the rice-balls shaped like rabbits. Of all things, rabbits! Did he think that the kendo students were a group of giggling little girls whose only aspirations were to be princesses? However, this attack on their masculinity went unnoticed by Kaoru's students, so Naruku was left alone, dwelling on this potential injustice.
After Naruku had served out seventeen suspiciously feminine onigiri, Kaoru walked up to the two of them.
"Thank you so much for helping out everyday with lunch," Kaoru gushed, clasping her hands graciously.
"It's no problem, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin spoke for the two of them, for Naruku was staring off in the courtyard where lunch was being eaten.
"I don't know what I'd do without you," Kaoru went on.
Naruku shrugged and turned to her raven-locked friend at last. "I don't know, but I doubt your students would like you as much if you starting cooking for them…"
A vein in Kaoru's forehead twitched, but she was quiet. She had been subconsciously getting better at controlling her emotions…
Which she supposed she had gotten from Aoshi.
Instead, Kaoru promptly exclaimed, "Naruku-chan, I have never seen that kimono on you!" In fact, Kaoru couldn't remember the last time she had actually seen any kimono on Naruku. Much less a bright orange one with a clashing pink obi.
Naruku giggled. "I made it myself! It's my lunch-lady uniform," she proclaimed. "And I made one for Kenshin, too, but he forgot to wear it, I guess."
Kenshin immediately looked guilty, and a bead of sweat formed on the back of his head. "Ano…orange really isn't my color…"
"Oh, and this from the man who prances around in pink all day!" Naruku retorted, throwing a hand up for emphasis.
Kenshin plucked at his current garments. "I like this gi. And it's magenta."
Naruku laughed. "Himura Kenshin, I have never seen you whine before. C'mon, do it again!"
"Ano…doushite?" Kenshin asked, put off guard.
"Because it's funny!" was Naruku's response. "Because it's funny" didn't seem like a good enough answer for Kenshin, so he ignored her.
"So, Kaoru-dono, are you content with the students that have been arriving?" He questioned, turning his attention to the other girl.
"Of course, Kenshin! I have wanted this for three years, don't you think I'd be happy?" Kaoru exclaimed. All though, in the doubtful and slightly defensive way she said it, it was not very convincing.
"Isn't something missing?" Naruku offered softly, having given up with teasing Kenshin. "I mean, you know…"
Kaoru blinked and sighed. "Oh you two…"
Ignoring the grin that was exchanged between Kenshin and Naruku, Kaoru stalked off to tell her students to wrap it up, they still had a whole afternoon of training ahead of them.
-
Kaoru walked briskly up the dojo path, a bag of groceries in hand. Her ponytail bounced as she continued upward, exhausted in the late afternoon sun. After a grueling day of teaching and training, all she wanted to do was eat dinner, take a bath and go to sleep…
Kaoru's peaceful thoughts stopped abruptly when she nearly stepped on an amorphous black dog that was lying in the middle of the path. Letting out an exclamation of surprise, Kaoru jumped back from the creature.
The dog did not seem perturbed at all, but merely raised it's shaggy head at her and plopped it back down. Its tail was thumping against the ground in a steady rhythm as the dog outwardly expressed its extreme content.
Kaoru peered at the oblivious dog a second longer before stooping down next to him and scratching his head happily.
"Hey…" she cooed. She paused and memory of this same dog reached her. "Hey! You're Makkou!" She said it almost accusingly. She grinned and went back to petting him, this time on the belly. "Naruku's been very worried about you, yes she has! She—" Kaoru stopped again and relinquished her hand, her eyes going wide.
"N…Naruku! Kenshin!"
Makkou, who didn't seem to see how important his reappearance was, whined and turned away from Kaoru's loud call.
Soon, Naruku came down the path, looking puzzled. She spotted Kaoru who was still crouched next to Makkou.
"Kaoru-chan! What's—" she looked down at the dog. Instead of tackling him like she probably wanted to, Naruku only pointed. "Actually I think your dog went to join her," she recalled Aoshi saying to her. And then her anger at his carelessness for her dog.
"But Makkou's with Misao," Naruku said, as if this knowledge was the truth instead of what was sitting on the ground in front of her. Misao had taken off from Tokyo months ago, and only later did Naruku find out that her beloved mutt had joined her thereafter. From this, Naruku had concluded that Aoshi wasn't very good at making sure people stayed where they were supposed to, but she had known that anyway.
Kaoru nodded. "Do you think Makkou just ran off, or…?"
"Or Misao is really here in Tokyo?" Naruku finished, knowing that Kaoru didn't want to say it, lest they get their hopes up.
Kaoru slowly nodded. She didn't say how much she hoped that was true, because there would be no going back after that.
"I hope that she is…" Naruku mused, petting Makkou.
Kaoru looked up in surprise. She sighed, a little peeved that Naruku had admitted that. The girl never paid any attention to not getting her hopes crushed. But, Kaoru supposed upon reflection, maybe that was all right.
"C'mon," Naruku said, grinning. "Let's go back in. Kenshin's waiting for the groceries."
She stood up and Makkou followed, Kaoru after him. "Wait a second, do you expect me to keep this dog at my dojo?" Kaoru protested.
Naruku turned around, the saddest look on her face. "Please, Kaoru-chan? He doesn't have anywhere to go, and he's our only clue toward Misao! Plus—"
"Aii…" Kaoru moaned. "Fine, he can stay." She pretended not to care about Naruku's gleeful whoops. "But just for Misao."
Kaoru went into the dojo courtyard, Makkou following behind her. Naruku, however, had paused to stare back down the path that they had come from. "Misao," she murmured to herself. "Are you really here?" she turned back to go in, shutting the dojo gate behind her.
A/N: I think this is behaving more like a proper first chapter. Please pay attention to the new order of events, if you had been reading this before April 2, 2005. Feel free to ask any questions in reviews! If it's something really lengthy, you can also e-mail me at Or you can also IM me at the same screenname.
