Sweet Mistake

Heir

By Seabreeze

A/N: 6 reviews on the first day! Wow, you guys, I feel like I'm getting back into my writing groove. Thanks so much for leaving your thoughts, its what keeps me going  Only 2 chapters left after this one – its kinda sad.

Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters.

Whatever had changed about Kenshin and Kaoru's behavior towards each other the day he had knocked her into the washbin had been short-lived. Once the awkwardness and little communication set back in, Kaoru felt more depressed than before. This time it was affecting her; she suffered in dance and consequence had opted not to perform in the end-of-year recital. The class had tried their hardest to get her to change her mind, but she wanted the performance to be good, and knew she was far too distracted to perform it well. The feeling had also started to affect her training with Kenshin, except that he had said something one day that stopped it:

"Whatever you're feeling, however good or bad a day you've had, doesn't matter. Kenjutsu is kenjutsu. Good or bad, the sword is there, and it is there to be mastered."

Her training was possibly the most confusing aspect of it all. Because while Kaoru moped around and did chores, and Kenshin neglected his chores in favor of wedding plans, they both met every day at the same time in the dojo for training. Somehow Kaoru felt the adversity was making her a better swordsman, so to speak – when she was in the dojo, with the bokken in hand, she concentrated on nothing else, not even Kenshin. She listened to his words, followed his lead, but otherwise ignored him completely. He was, after all, at the root of her problems.

It was a normal spring day, less than two weeks away from the dreaded wedding, when Kenshin and Kaoru met in the dojo for another training session. Yet something was different; Kaoru noticed right away that there was a tenseness about Kenshin that had never been there. Regardless, he acted as if everything was normal. Kaoru didn't let herself wonder too hard, wanting to concentrate on her practice. He had her warm up as usual, practiced the usual strikes and some unusual ones, which in itself was not surprising either. When he announced they would spar, Kaoru felt her heart rise slightly, and as she got into stance, noticed that it did not lift nearly as high as it usually would've. Kaoru loved sparring. But now, it almost felt like a duty.

They bowed, eyes never leaving each other. Kaoru leapt forward, making the first attack, a complicated stab aimed for the dead center of his chest. Difficult to avoid, she knew, but Kenshin did so easily. Before she had time to breathe, he was on her with a blow that would've dislocated her shoulder. She caught it with her bokken, knocking his sword off its course and before he had it back in position, going in again for another attack. The spar was furious, completely focused: no time was wasted, no movement lost. Looking back later, Kaoru realized that it had been wild, a battle of wills more than a spar. For what, she wasn't sure: normalcy, perhaps; the regained friendship she craved. Regardless, both were devoted to defeating the other.

In all, the spar lasted a good fifteen minutes. Near the end, Kaoru was wearing out, and Kenshin was not easing up on her in the least. Regardless, both fought emotionlessly, flawlessly. Kaoru did not let her pace slow though she was sweating profusely and her breathing was becoming more and more forced. As far as she had come since she had started training, Kenshin had still been training for nearly two decades longer.

Kenshin clearly thought he had the upper hand, and in all honesty, Kaoru agreed with him. She was done, she couldn't go any longer. His last attack was performed with a look of grim acceptance, one that snuck from underhand up towards her shoulder. Just as Kaoru cringed, expecting to feel a jolt of intense pain, the hand holding her bokken vibrated, and she realized in pure shock that she had – somehow, amazingly – blocked it. Kenshin's face, too, had surprise written all over it, and, without thinking, Kaoru attacked. It was over before she really knew what had happened, but one minute she was flying at him, and the next minute he was holding his upper arm in pain.

Her eyes flew open, and she lowered her bokken. She had struck him. She… she had won. She watched his lowered face intently, wanting a reaction, any reaction out of him. After several moments of panting, he raised his face, which was unreadable, and bowed to her. Kaoru bowed back, uncertainly.

"Kenshin…" she began, but his face split into a (somewhat pained) grin.

"Congratulations, Kaoru." He said, voice and eyes gentle. "You just beat me. You're the new master of the Kamiya Kasshin style."

Her eyes grew even wider, and her bokken clanked noisily on the floor in her surprise. She was still panting heavily, in a way that reminded him, oddly enough, of Saitoh after a particularly strenuous battle.

"But… I don't even know how I –"

"You don't, but your body obviously does. You beat me, fair and square, and you beat me good, Kaoru."

She continued to stare at him, disbelieving.

"I can't be the master after beating you just once. Kenshin, I've only been training for a few months."

"And you learned so fast, it was like you were born to practice the Kamiya Kasshin style. By beating me in a real spar, you proved that your handle on the style far succeeds mine. That is how all kenjutsu artists become masters, Kaoru."

At a loss for words, Kaoru gaped at him. He chuckled and set his bokken on the wall, and did the same with hers. Still rubbing his arm where she had hit him, he beckoned her out of the dojo.

"D'you mind helping me with this? I think I'm going to need some ice." He asked, lifting it for emphasis. Kaoru nodded wordlessly and followed him out.

Not long after, Kaoru held bags of ice to his bruised bicep and wrapped them gently with medical cloth. They sat in silence, where they usually would've talked. It seemed that the epic spar had done very little to make things better between them. As soon as she finished, she stood, rubbing her hands on her sweatpants. She walked a few steps away, and stopped hesitantly.

"Kenshin?" she asked, staring off into the exact opposite direction from where he was staring.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I… since before I can remember, I've been Kaoru… just Kaoru. And… now that I'm a master of the Kamiya Kasshin style… I think I'm going to take Kamiya as my last name."

There was a moment of silence, and neither moved the slightest bit to turn towards the other.

"Kaoru Kamiya," Kenshin said, his voice unusually warm. "It has a ring to it," he sounded so proud, and Kaoru for some reason felt tears gather in her eyes. She walked away silently, leaving him on the steps of the dojo.

Sano headed grudgingly to the dance studio, a bouquet of flowers in hand. It hurt to eat his pride so and apologize for something he didn't believe was really his fault, but for some reason he couldn't not. It was closing, and she was locking up. He broke into a jog.

"Magdaria!" he called, stopping in front of her. She stared at him with a look of dislike.

"I have your helmet," she said flatly. "You can come get it whenever."

"Look, Magdaria, I'm here to apologize." Sano said, a tad bit angrily. Her face softened, and she turned to him, sighing.

"Alright, I'm listening." She said. Sano held out the flowers as he began.

"I know our date didn't go as I wanted it to – I offended you so many time, asking you about your name and bringing up the Christian thing –" he cringed, whether as his own mistakes or the thought of her anger, she didn't know " – and I wasn't expecting my friends to come in there and be all… well, be themselves… but I want you to know… I think you're a great girl. I've never met anyone like you in my life. I – goddamnit! – I like myself when I'm around you." He caught her eyes, earnest brown eyes meeting hers. She felt a blush rise on her cheeks.

"Sanosuke…"

"No, let me finish. I didn't mean to fight with you, it was the last thing I wanted. I'm just socially retarded, if you ask my best friend Kenshin, and so I more often than not piss off the people I like the most." He paused, wondering where all these words had come from, he certainly hadn't been planning on saying them, and watched her. Her giant, innocent brown eyes were shining with something he couldn't recognize. "I'd just like one more chance. I know I already blew my first one, but… if I could just prove to you, I swear –"

"Sano," she began, her voice sounding regretful. "I… I don't think that's a good idea." Sano felt like he'd been shot.

"Why?" he demanded, angry mostly because he had unwillingly spilled his guts, only to be shot down.

"You may like yourself when you're around me, but I don't like myself around you," she lied, unsure as to why, really, she was lying through her teeth. She watched as his eyes narrowed in pain and anger.

"I've never met a woman more self-centered than you." He spat, turning and leaving without another word. Magdaria watched him, eyes filling with tears. Was that really it? Was that why she had turned him down? Her self-centered-ness? She wasn't sure. She turned abruptly away, not realizing that she was clutching the flowers he had brought her tightly to her chest.

Tomoe smiled across the table at Akira. He smiled back, seeming a little flustered. Less than two weeks away from her wedding, she was on her eighth date with another man. Some great part of her felt extremely guilty, and some part of her ignored the guilty one. For now, she wore an elegant black gown that was low-cut but not showy. Akira, in a nice suit, ordered them both champagne as Tomoe surveyed Akira's restaurant choice: quite a fancy French bistro, it seemed, complete with velvet curtains and candles on every table. Tomoe picked up the white napkin and unfolded it, placing it in her lap as she grinned at Akira.

"It's a romantic place you chose," she noted a bit shyly. Akira blushed and looked away.

"Any idea what you want to eat?" he asked, clearly changing the subject. Tomoe frowned but picked up her menu regardless.

"Escargot." She said, before she even saw what was on the menu. "Everyone makes such a big deal about it, I'd like to see what the fuss is about." She said. Akira grinned sheepishly.

"You're brave. I think I'll stick with cooked asparagus and a steak," he said, gathering both his and Tomoe's menus. "Sir?" he said, stopping their waiter. "We're ready to order."

"Very well, sir, one moment."

Tomoe smiled.

"You'll have to try just one," she said. Akira laughed.

"We'll see," he feigned being scared, making Tomoe giggle.

They were served, and despite her efforts, Tomoe could not convince Akira to try the snails. They joked and laughed, discussing things at work and things they had done in the past few weeks. Tomoe was surprised when she checked her watch as they waited for their deserts to be served.

"Its already ten," she said, eyes wide. Akira smiled.

"You thought it was earlier?" he asked. Tomoe nodded, flushing a bit.

"Time just seems to fly by when. . ." she trailed off, heating in the face even more as she looked pointedly at him. Realizing what she meant, he too blushed.

"Tomoe. . ." he began, but they were interrupted as their deserts were delivered.

"Thank you," Tomoe told the waiter, who bowed and walked away. "Yes?" she turned back to Akira, knowing it had been something important. He set his glass bowl of fine ice cream down and reached across the table for her hand. Blinking, she gave it to him and he clasped it as he looked at her seriously.

"Tomoe. . . I know we're just starting to get to know each other, but . . . I love you."

Tomoe felt time stop as she stared at the man across from her.

"Oh," she said, after a moment, a sob building in her throat. He squeezed her hand encouragingly.

"Go on," he said. Tomoe felt a tear roll heavily down her cheek and wiped it hastily away with her other hand.

"Akira," she said, giving him a level stare. "You know . . . that I can't tell you how I feel right now." He looked severely disappointed, and she scrambled to explain. "I'm getting married in a little more than a week!" she said, whispering now. "Even if I wanted to . . . but I can't."

A/N: Holy crap, you guys, 11 reviews total since my last update. Wow. That's so many for someone who just dove back into fanfiction writing. Thank you so much, everyone who's continued to support me and people who are just starting to read. And prepare for drama and action next chapter.

Thankses:

(I know that's not a word)

royal blueKitsune – yeah, I know what you mean – when I was reading Chiki-friend's "When the Whole World Revolves Around You" the first time through, I skipped nearly everything that wasn't KK. Then later in the story, she started writing Soujiro/Misao, and I realized that I shouldn't have skipped everything before. Just bare with me thanks for the review.

Lynn–Minmay – thank you! I love writing this story, its so much fun. And the part about Kenshin telling Kaoru to smile, it came out of literally nowhere. There wasn't supposed to be anything sweet there. I kinda liked it anyway, though. Thanks for reading!

GreenEyedFloozy – thank you so much, I'm truly flattered. Thanks for sticking with this story despite everything. You're such a good reader-friend!

GranolaBar – I do too update often! Lol. Ok, so not as often as I'd like. But don't worry, this story will definitely be completed soon. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a review.

Human Chew Toy – thanks for leaving a review! I think you read this story back when I originally started it. . . Anyhow, it was really just that Kenshin knocked Kaoru into a washbin that changed their behavior a bit. Unfortunately, nothing much more behind that. Hope to see a you next time around! Or. . . for me, I guess, this time around, because . . . Ok, shutting up.

Jess-chan of the Nya Nya Neko – ah, so another dance/action/romance/Kenshin fan! So far there are four of us. . . I think we definitely need a club, lol. Anyway, I'm glad you enjoy my story! Unfortunately, no KK fluff this time, but don't worry. In the future, there will be more. Thank you for leaving a review!

MissyHaze – lol, not happily ever after quite yet. I'm glad you like it so far, and thanks so much for reading and leaving a review!

Kiri – unfortunately I can't tell you how the Kenshin/Tomoe thing gets resolved just now. It means a lot that you said you look forward to reading this story! Thank you so very much for leaving such a kind review!

Sambina – you reviewed chapter 1, but your thank you is here I'm hope you enjoy the rest of the story, though I warn you it gets a bit rough in patches. Anyways, thanks for leaving a review!

Ss1128 – thanks for reviewing! I hope you like this chapter!

RK-128 – AHHHHHHHHHH! OMG I didn't read the name when I read your review, and you were like "you know how I feel about Tomoe" and I was like "wtf… I don't even know you" and then you went on and I was like hang on… this is KAGOME! That totally just made my whole day! Ok, so on Tomoe: I started this story before I saw Trust and Betrayal, so I made Tomoe the way I always thought she was – strong and independent. Then I saw the movie, and I was totally off, but I decided to keep her my way in this story. I mean, strong ballerina type, or pedophile woman on helium? And I kinda wanted to not hate her so much, at least in this story. I didn't want her to be the evil witch. Because for all the terrible and back-boneless things she did, she did die trying to save him. Granted, it was in a way that scarred him for life in more ways than one, but . . . oh well. Yeah, fanfiction writing right now is taking a priority over both English and euro . . . I mean, I have all the time in the world to fail AP classes, but when else am I going to write about my favorite characters? Anyways, wrapping it up, it means a lot that you like my story. By any chance, are you interested in writing again and/or doing the bouncerbuddie biz?