Summary: Kamiya Kaoru is the young owner of a flower shop. Every day of the week, her customer, Himura Kenshin, comes to pick up fresh white roses, a dozen of them, for his late wife. Kaoru can't help but fall in love with this mysterious customer. But how can things ever be if Kenshin's still grieving the death of his wife?
AN: READ THIS!! Okay, next two or three chapters are already mapped out. This fic will be ending sooon. Like.. really soon. Eight chapters total is what I'm thinking. Maybe add on an epilogue. My plans for Enishi, Sanosuke, Saito, Yahiko, and others will not come to play. Sorry! I was going to incorporate a whole bunch of stuff into this fic, but then I thought it would ruin the flow. I hadn't planned on ending it so quickly, but it just seems the right timing. The way things are going, it'll make a better ending now than later, I promise! And this chapter is mainly all flashbacks. The first flashback actually occurs after the second two. It's confusing, I know, but just.. think of it like a movie. Also, I changed the rating to PG-13 because of the bloody scenes in this chapter.
--------------------------
Declaimer: I don't own Kenshin.
--------------------------
As I Bloom
Winds of Fortune
Chapter 6
.
The stench was sickening, overpowering. The room was surprisingly warm for a winter day. Perhaps it was the heat from the cooling body, slowly rising to the air like soft steam. In the dark, from the silver moonlight filtering in, I could see it. The curling wisps were barely visible, but they illuminated the body. It gave her an ethereal appearance. Even in death, she managed to be perfect. And then the blood and its tangy smell. In thickening pools, it seeped across the hardwood floor. I could feel it soaking through my clothes, sticky against my skin.
She looked like she was sleeping, her strangely heavy body leaning against me in an awkward position. A taste of bile flooded into my mouth. Forcing it down, I stood, letting the body fall away, already stiff and stuck in place. I wanted to throw up. It was the first time the sight of a dead body made me sick. But then, it was not everyday I witnessed the death of my wife.
My eyes swept over the body, the blood, the sword. Why did we have a sword? I found it a little amusing. A drop of blood from my face slid down my chin and dropped to the ground. – Drip – She bled a lot. A sword wound certainly bled a lot.
A pounding of soft feet on the floor rang in my ears. Someone was quickly heading this way. Sliding my foot along the floor, I trailed a thick line of blood. The putrid smell rose to my nose again. Who would discover this crime?
For it was a crime, a murder.
There was an insistent knocking on the door before it was knocked down with brute force. Shinomori Aoshi stood, breathing heavily, his breath coming out in little white clouds.
My senses flared. My eyes seemed to pick up every move, every twitch. My nose detected every scent. My ears screamed loudly all the sounds, augmented to ten times their original frequency. – Drip –
"The body," my voice sounded like a gong rung in the middle of a hushed auditorium, echoing off the walls. "I have to get rid of the body."
He stared at me, his breathing slower now. "You mean," he corrected in a low tone, "you have to bury Tomoe." He knelt beside the dead body and cursed quietly. "How long have you been like this? She's already stiff."
I blinked my eyes. In the dark room, Tomoe's pale face looked just as she was a few hours ago. The eerie moonlight that shimmered in through past the blinds only succeeded in confusing my eyes even more. She was alive one moment and then she was dead. I swallowed, looking into the deathly gaze of my wife, my love, my life. My breathing picked up. In and out, it sped up only slightly.
"Yes," my voice hollow, "the body was hard to move. And with all the blood- "
"Himura," Shinomori cut in, "stop it. Stop talking as though it doesn't matter."
- Drip - The pounding of my heart seemed infinitely louder all of a sudden.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
He cursed again and very suddenly, his fist whipped out and caught me square in the jaw. The heavy impact threw me off my feet, sending me skidding along the wooden floor a few feet. The taste of blood in my mouth registered in my head.
Tomoe.
"Shinomori, I-"
A sudden spell of dizziness hit my head. Tomoe's face blurred in my mind.
"-I can't-"
I killed her.
I killed my wife.
My wild eyes fled from her angelic face to my hands, my blood red hands.
She's dead.
Gasping, I could only stare blindly up at Shinomori before my hands clapped over my ears, squeezing and squeezing, willing the memory to go away, trying in vain to crush my own skull.
I ccould never hear her speak again. Never hear her foot steps. Never feel her presence.
My mouth opened and I could only describe the unintelligible sound that escaped as an inhuman howl.
-----------------
The icy water hit my face in a cool wake up call. What was I supposed to feel? Was I angry? Was I relieved? All I could grasp onto was the guilt that pounded through my veins. I wanted to blame someone for.. something. Yet there was nothing to blame. Love was something I never did understand. I loved Tomoe, I thought I did. But how could I love someone else as well?
I rubbed my face furiously in a towel, rubbing away at all the built up emotions. The movie experience could not have been described as a good one. It was a mixture. There were good points, like when you walked straight into my arms and I could feel something solid there, something real for me to cherish and love. It wasn't a ghost that I held but someone who was perfect in everyway. I felt as though I tainted your very presence by simply being with you. And then there were the bad points, like when you accused me of cheating on my wife. Or when I opened my mouth and blabbed about my past job.
"Shinomori," I turned to my constant companion who was resting on my couch. "I don't know what's happening anymore. I don't know what came over me."
He was silent for a long time, carefully sipping the Scotch in his hand. In the silence, I could hear the ticking of the clocks, and all the little noises a house was capable of making. Finally, in his usual cool voice, he told me, "Love has a way of creeping up to you. It's something that just happens. No matter how much you try to deny it, you know it's there. It's an aching, an uncertainty that's always there." He shrugged. "It happens to the best of us."
In the soft under tones, I knew he wasn't talking just about me. He was also talking about himself.
------------------- flashback
My stumbling feet found their own way home. Home. I leaned a heavy head on the door, not wanting to open it. The shock from my meeting still glazed my thinking. It was for my own good, my boss had said. But I could never do it. How could he ask me to do such a thing? They say that to leave a job, you must complete one last task, but sometimes, such a task was too much to ask.
My hand closed around the door knob, turning it and opening it. It was times like these when I noticed certain things. The door was unlocked. The fresh snow at my feet crunched with each step. The house was deadly silent. There was a lack of light that normally seeped under the slit of the doorway.
Something was wrong.
------------------- present
You were beautiful, as always. You shone. It was obvious you were delighted about something. Through the glass windows of your shop, I could see your radiating happiness. Perhaps it was because of yesterday, when we publicly displayed our emotions. Perhaps it was because I was so different in contrast. My hands smoothed down the front of my suit and nervously brushed at my flaming red hair. I wanted to see you, to be beside you.
But I couldn't bring myself to do so.
I backed up to the wall of the shop, leaning against its white painted stone. My violet eyes closed and I breathed in deeply. I could almost smell your hair, the mixture of soft jasmine and spices. I wanted to just hold you and feel your hair between my fingers. It was an aching, Shinomori was right. But to be near you and not be able to see you, speak to you, the temptation seemed all too great. I blew out between my teeth and forced my feet to turn away.
Pushing away from the wall, I pivoted on my heel and slowly, step by step, I made myself leave you behind. It seemed that just yesterday we had crossed a boundary and allowed ourselves to become closer. Yet this simple task of walking away would bring that all down. I could not see you now because of how right you had been the day before. I was cheating on my wife. I pledged my eternal love to her and I could not bring myself to wrong her.
Kaoru..
Sayonara.
And even as I tried to tell myself I'd never see her again. A small corner of my mind spoke softly. "Goodbye for today, at least."
-------------------- flashback
At first, I didn't even see her. She stood still, her hair pillowing her face. Again, the little things jumped to my attention. The deadness of her eyes. The paleness of her kimono in the light. The strange coldness of the room.
"Tomoe," I said, my voice raspy, forced.
She didn't smile like she normally did. She didn't step forward to welcome me home. She just stood and gazed at me, a glassy doll-like stare, her hands tucked neatly behind her.
I stepped into the apartment, clicking the door shut behind me, and slipped out of my shoes. My movements were smooth even as my hands shook. I did not trust myself to move, did not trust myself to speak.
"So, you have come to finish your job." She spoke, her voice eloquent, soft.
I could do no more than look at her.
She took a step toward me, and held a hand out to mine. Letting her hold my hand, I kept my gaze locked with hers. "Kenshin," she whispered, "Do you think I don't know?" Something cold and hard pressed into the palm of my hand.
I couldn't answer her.
She was moving my hand now, with my fingers clamped around the cold object. "Tomoe," I breathed, trailing my eyes down to see what it was she had given me.
It was a sword, an old Japanese sword, pressed there in my hand, long and deadly, cold and shimmering. In shock, I pulled back, pushing her away, forcing her hand away from mine.
"What is this?" I hissed, staring in simmering horror at the worn handle, the shiny blade.
Her hands flew to my face, and she planted a kiss on my lips, a soft feathery kiss. "Did you think I wouldn't know?" She asked again. "Your job, your work? I know what was asked of you today."
"I will never do it, Tomoe, I could never do it."
Her hand slipped down to the sword again. "I know you wouldn't, that is why I wanted to help you."
The pounding in my ears grew louder.
"You-" I couldn't even bring myself to say it, but I knew what she meant. She would kill herself for me. For me, she was willing to sacrifice her life.
Suddenly, with surprising force, her hand grasped my own and plunged the sword towards herself.
I didn't know what happened. One second I was staring into her beautiful face, the other, we were sprawled on the floor, bloodied and torn. My instincts awakened the moment I felt the sword being ripped from my hand, heading for her stomach. Desperately, I tried to yank it back. Desperately I tried to save her life at the expense of my own. The tug of war only worsened the situation. The metal ripped through her, through and up. The force of both of our responses spun the cursed blade, sending it ripping through her arm, spinning it back to slash powerfully against my face.
It happened in seconds. So surely, so quickly, the shock didn't even begin to sink in. The sword lay feet away from where we had sunk on the floor. Her blood had splattered an amazing distance, making the scene appear as chaotic as I felt it was. My hands clamped around her, pulling her close to me as she lay in my lap. The thick blood from her wounds oozed out, bubbling with fervor, warm and liquid.
She was gasping, choking, crying. "Kenshin," she whimpered, her good hand clutching my shirt, smearing blood all over it.
"Tomoe," I cried out urgently, "Tomoe, I wasn't going to kill you. My boss, I wasn't going to do it. I was going to leave it all behind, Tomoe. For you, I was going to stop. I asked them to let me go, to wipe my record clean. I could have started new with you. Why didn't you let me start over?"
She gurgled, coughing and sputtering blood. "Love," she said, "I know what would have happened. They would hunt you down. A job is meant to be done."
My hands clenched around her shoulder. This was my wife. This woman I held in my arms. This woman I'd managed to kill.
She smiled, her beautiful smile. It was always so mysterious, a mixture of all the emotions possible, a smile she rarely ever exhibited. She smiled for me, a last smile.
"Please," she said, "remember that you-"
But I would never know what it was Tomoe wanted to tell me. I would never know what it was I should have remembered. Her words died in her throat, clogged by the blood that flowed like a stream, over and around us.
Tomoe, my mind despaired, I killed you.
:End Chapter 6:
AN: A chapter I am not satisfied with. It's hard to think straight when you're trying to throw a turmoil of confusion together and make it coherent. And things are supposed to slow down and then speed up, like how Kenshin's mind can't seem to forget the little things that happened before, how he just wants to forget the things that happened but can't. Instead, it makes the entire chapter awkward and hard to understand. -- Sorry.
.
Nguardian / Laurika / Wistful-Eyes / Yawarako / alex / agaxris / kean / QueenKagom / Lendra-chan / allin656 / animegurl23 / rain angst / Gypsy- chan / Eternal Sunshine / MizzLee / kklover / olivia short / star-crystals / the sacred night / Falling / NARGIEGIRL21 / neo / Kitsune KeNsHiN / LYKAchan – Thanks all for ur great reviews. It seems that everyone's favorite part was the slap/hug. Haha, I enjoyed that myself. I admit, making them hug in public was very.. abrupt, but it's kind of like they've held back from each other for so long that the relief was soo great, their feelings soo strong, they just.. kinda.. walked into each other. Alright, its out of character, sue me, but I thought it was fitting. Cuz they obviously like each other, and it's more like Kaoru hugged him than he hugged kaoru. And strong feelings! Think strong feelings! Blah, here goes me trying to justify what I'm writing, let's just say I wanted to add in a lil fluff and leave it at that. OH, and PLZ don't kill me for the Kenshin walking away part of this chapter. I promise Kaoru and Kenshin will be together, k?
Allegretto / JaZz – Allegretto, you make me feel awesome! Cuz u like the interruptions, I LOVE the interruptions. They're what I enjoy writing. And Jasmine, my dear rose lover, I made flashbacks easier to figure out this chapter.
SakuraXHimura – For fear of being pounded to death with hate mail by Kaoru fans, I'm not going to comment on that. =P But I admit I like Tomoe more. Haha, and yea, Kenshin should get a job, and a life! But not in this fic, nope.
yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds – thank you soo much for all that information. WoW! Hehe, thx for going through the trouble. Let's say, Yahiko's cancer was discovered before metamorphosis occurred and they are simply awaiting surgery.. or multiple surgeries. Yeaa... thxx
AN: READ THIS!! Okay, next two or three chapters are already mapped out. This fic will be ending sooon. Like.. really soon. Eight chapters total is what I'm thinking. Maybe add on an epilogue. My plans for Enishi, Sanosuke, Saito, Yahiko, and others will not come to play. Sorry! I was going to incorporate a whole bunch of stuff into this fic, but then I thought it would ruin the flow. I hadn't planned on ending it so quickly, but it just seems the right timing. The way things are going, it'll make a better ending now than later, I promise! And this chapter is mainly all flashbacks. The first flashback actually occurs after the second two. It's confusing, I know, but just.. think of it like a movie. Also, I changed the rating to PG-13 because of the bloody scenes in this chapter.
--------------------------
Declaimer: I don't own Kenshin.
--------------------------
As I Bloom
Winds of Fortune
Chapter 6
.
The stench was sickening, overpowering. The room was surprisingly warm for a winter day. Perhaps it was the heat from the cooling body, slowly rising to the air like soft steam. In the dark, from the silver moonlight filtering in, I could see it. The curling wisps were barely visible, but they illuminated the body. It gave her an ethereal appearance. Even in death, she managed to be perfect. And then the blood and its tangy smell. In thickening pools, it seeped across the hardwood floor. I could feel it soaking through my clothes, sticky against my skin.
She looked like she was sleeping, her strangely heavy body leaning against me in an awkward position. A taste of bile flooded into my mouth. Forcing it down, I stood, letting the body fall away, already stiff and stuck in place. I wanted to throw up. It was the first time the sight of a dead body made me sick. But then, it was not everyday I witnessed the death of my wife.
My eyes swept over the body, the blood, the sword. Why did we have a sword? I found it a little amusing. A drop of blood from my face slid down my chin and dropped to the ground. – Drip – She bled a lot. A sword wound certainly bled a lot.
A pounding of soft feet on the floor rang in my ears. Someone was quickly heading this way. Sliding my foot along the floor, I trailed a thick line of blood. The putrid smell rose to my nose again. Who would discover this crime?
For it was a crime, a murder.
There was an insistent knocking on the door before it was knocked down with brute force. Shinomori Aoshi stood, breathing heavily, his breath coming out in little white clouds.
My senses flared. My eyes seemed to pick up every move, every twitch. My nose detected every scent. My ears screamed loudly all the sounds, augmented to ten times their original frequency. – Drip –
"The body," my voice sounded like a gong rung in the middle of a hushed auditorium, echoing off the walls. "I have to get rid of the body."
He stared at me, his breathing slower now. "You mean," he corrected in a low tone, "you have to bury Tomoe." He knelt beside the dead body and cursed quietly. "How long have you been like this? She's already stiff."
I blinked my eyes. In the dark room, Tomoe's pale face looked just as she was a few hours ago. The eerie moonlight that shimmered in through past the blinds only succeeded in confusing my eyes even more. She was alive one moment and then she was dead. I swallowed, looking into the deathly gaze of my wife, my love, my life. My breathing picked up. In and out, it sped up only slightly.
"Yes," my voice hollow, "the body was hard to move. And with all the blood- "
"Himura," Shinomori cut in, "stop it. Stop talking as though it doesn't matter."
- Drip - The pounding of my heart seemed infinitely louder all of a sudden.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
He cursed again and very suddenly, his fist whipped out and caught me square in the jaw. The heavy impact threw me off my feet, sending me skidding along the wooden floor a few feet. The taste of blood in my mouth registered in my head.
Tomoe.
"Shinomori, I-"
A sudden spell of dizziness hit my head. Tomoe's face blurred in my mind.
"-I can't-"
I killed her.
I killed my wife.
My wild eyes fled from her angelic face to my hands, my blood red hands.
She's dead.
Gasping, I could only stare blindly up at Shinomori before my hands clapped over my ears, squeezing and squeezing, willing the memory to go away, trying in vain to crush my own skull.
I ccould never hear her speak again. Never hear her foot steps. Never feel her presence.
My mouth opened and I could only describe the unintelligible sound that escaped as an inhuman howl.
-----------------
The icy water hit my face in a cool wake up call. What was I supposed to feel? Was I angry? Was I relieved? All I could grasp onto was the guilt that pounded through my veins. I wanted to blame someone for.. something. Yet there was nothing to blame. Love was something I never did understand. I loved Tomoe, I thought I did. But how could I love someone else as well?
I rubbed my face furiously in a towel, rubbing away at all the built up emotions. The movie experience could not have been described as a good one. It was a mixture. There were good points, like when you walked straight into my arms and I could feel something solid there, something real for me to cherish and love. It wasn't a ghost that I held but someone who was perfect in everyway. I felt as though I tainted your very presence by simply being with you. And then there were the bad points, like when you accused me of cheating on my wife. Or when I opened my mouth and blabbed about my past job.
"Shinomori," I turned to my constant companion who was resting on my couch. "I don't know what's happening anymore. I don't know what came over me."
He was silent for a long time, carefully sipping the Scotch in his hand. In the silence, I could hear the ticking of the clocks, and all the little noises a house was capable of making. Finally, in his usual cool voice, he told me, "Love has a way of creeping up to you. It's something that just happens. No matter how much you try to deny it, you know it's there. It's an aching, an uncertainty that's always there." He shrugged. "It happens to the best of us."
In the soft under tones, I knew he wasn't talking just about me. He was also talking about himself.
------------------- flashback
My stumbling feet found their own way home. Home. I leaned a heavy head on the door, not wanting to open it. The shock from my meeting still glazed my thinking. It was for my own good, my boss had said. But I could never do it. How could he ask me to do such a thing? They say that to leave a job, you must complete one last task, but sometimes, such a task was too much to ask.
My hand closed around the door knob, turning it and opening it. It was times like these when I noticed certain things. The door was unlocked. The fresh snow at my feet crunched with each step. The house was deadly silent. There was a lack of light that normally seeped under the slit of the doorway.
Something was wrong.
------------------- present
You were beautiful, as always. You shone. It was obvious you were delighted about something. Through the glass windows of your shop, I could see your radiating happiness. Perhaps it was because of yesterday, when we publicly displayed our emotions. Perhaps it was because I was so different in contrast. My hands smoothed down the front of my suit and nervously brushed at my flaming red hair. I wanted to see you, to be beside you.
But I couldn't bring myself to do so.
I backed up to the wall of the shop, leaning against its white painted stone. My violet eyes closed and I breathed in deeply. I could almost smell your hair, the mixture of soft jasmine and spices. I wanted to just hold you and feel your hair between my fingers. It was an aching, Shinomori was right. But to be near you and not be able to see you, speak to you, the temptation seemed all too great. I blew out between my teeth and forced my feet to turn away.
Pushing away from the wall, I pivoted on my heel and slowly, step by step, I made myself leave you behind. It seemed that just yesterday we had crossed a boundary and allowed ourselves to become closer. Yet this simple task of walking away would bring that all down. I could not see you now because of how right you had been the day before. I was cheating on my wife. I pledged my eternal love to her and I could not bring myself to wrong her.
Kaoru..
Sayonara.
And even as I tried to tell myself I'd never see her again. A small corner of my mind spoke softly. "Goodbye for today, at least."
-------------------- flashback
At first, I didn't even see her. She stood still, her hair pillowing her face. Again, the little things jumped to my attention. The deadness of her eyes. The paleness of her kimono in the light. The strange coldness of the room.
"Tomoe," I said, my voice raspy, forced.
She didn't smile like she normally did. She didn't step forward to welcome me home. She just stood and gazed at me, a glassy doll-like stare, her hands tucked neatly behind her.
I stepped into the apartment, clicking the door shut behind me, and slipped out of my shoes. My movements were smooth even as my hands shook. I did not trust myself to move, did not trust myself to speak.
"So, you have come to finish your job." She spoke, her voice eloquent, soft.
I could do no more than look at her.
She took a step toward me, and held a hand out to mine. Letting her hold my hand, I kept my gaze locked with hers. "Kenshin," she whispered, "Do you think I don't know?" Something cold and hard pressed into the palm of my hand.
I couldn't answer her.
She was moving my hand now, with my fingers clamped around the cold object. "Tomoe," I breathed, trailing my eyes down to see what it was she had given me.
It was a sword, an old Japanese sword, pressed there in my hand, long and deadly, cold and shimmering. In shock, I pulled back, pushing her away, forcing her hand away from mine.
"What is this?" I hissed, staring in simmering horror at the worn handle, the shiny blade.
Her hands flew to my face, and she planted a kiss on my lips, a soft feathery kiss. "Did you think I wouldn't know?" She asked again. "Your job, your work? I know what was asked of you today."
"I will never do it, Tomoe, I could never do it."
Her hand slipped down to the sword again. "I know you wouldn't, that is why I wanted to help you."
The pounding in my ears grew louder.
"You-" I couldn't even bring myself to say it, but I knew what she meant. She would kill herself for me. For me, she was willing to sacrifice her life.
Suddenly, with surprising force, her hand grasped my own and plunged the sword towards herself.
I didn't know what happened. One second I was staring into her beautiful face, the other, we were sprawled on the floor, bloodied and torn. My instincts awakened the moment I felt the sword being ripped from my hand, heading for her stomach. Desperately, I tried to yank it back. Desperately I tried to save her life at the expense of my own. The tug of war only worsened the situation. The metal ripped through her, through and up. The force of both of our responses spun the cursed blade, sending it ripping through her arm, spinning it back to slash powerfully against my face.
It happened in seconds. So surely, so quickly, the shock didn't even begin to sink in. The sword lay feet away from where we had sunk on the floor. Her blood had splattered an amazing distance, making the scene appear as chaotic as I felt it was. My hands clamped around her, pulling her close to me as she lay in my lap. The thick blood from her wounds oozed out, bubbling with fervor, warm and liquid.
She was gasping, choking, crying. "Kenshin," she whimpered, her good hand clutching my shirt, smearing blood all over it.
"Tomoe," I cried out urgently, "Tomoe, I wasn't going to kill you. My boss, I wasn't going to do it. I was going to leave it all behind, Tomoe. For you, I was going to stop. I asked them to let me go, to wipe my record clean. I could have started new with you. Why didn't you let me start over?"
She gurgled, coughing and sputtering blood. "Love," she said, "I know what would have happened. They would hunt you down. A job is meant to be done."
My hands clenched around her shoulder. This was my wife. This woman I held in my arms. This woman I'd managed to kill.
She smiled, her beautiful smile. It was always so mysterious, a mixture of all the emotions possible, a smile she rarely ever exhibited. She smiled for me, a last smile.
"Please," she said, "remember that you-"
But I would never know what it was Tomoe wanted to tell me. I would never know what it was I should have remembered. Her words died in her throat, clogged by the blood that flowed like a stream, over and around us.
Tomoe, my mind despaired, I killed you.
:End Chapter 6:
AN: A chapter I am not satisfied with. It's hard to think straight when you're trying to throw a turmoil of confusion together and make it coherent. And things are supposed to slow down and then speed up, like how Kenshin's mind can't seem to forget the little things that happened before, how he just wants to forget the things that happened but can't. Instead, it makes the entire chapter awkward and hard to understand. -- Sorry.
.
Nguardian / Laurika / Wistful-Eyes / Yawarako / alex / agaxris / kean / QueenKagom / Lendra-chan / allin656 / animegurl23 / rain angst / Gypsy- chan / Eternal Sunshine / MizzLee / kklover / olivia short / star-crystals / the sacred night / Falling / NARGIEGIRL21 / neo / Kitsune KeNsHiN / LYKAchan – Thanks all for ur great reviews. It seems that everyone's favorite part was the slap/hug. Haha, I enjoyed that myself. I admit, making them hug in public was very.. abrupt, but it's kind of like they've held back from each other for so long that the relief was soo great, their feelings soo strong, they just.. kinda.. walked into each other. Alright, its out of character, sue me, but I thought it was fitting. Cuz they obviously like each other, and it's more like Kaoru hugged him than he hugged kaoru. And strong feelings! Think strong feelings! Blah, here goes me trying to justify what I'm writing, let's just say I wanted to add in a lil fluff and leave it at that. OH, and PLZ don't kill me for the Kenshin walking away part of this chapter. I promise Kaoru and Kenshin will be together, k?
Allegretto / JaZz – Allegretto, you make me feel awesome! Cuz u like the interruptions, I LOVE the interruptions. They're what I enjoy writing. And Jasmine, my dear rose lover, I made flashbacks easier to figure out this chapter.
SakuraXHimura – For fear of being pounded to death with hate mail by Kaoru fans, I'm not going to comment on that. =P But I admit I like Tomoe more. Haha, and yea, Kenshin should get a job, and a life! But not in this fic, nope.
yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds – thank you soo much for all that information. WoW! Hehe, thx for going through the trouble. Let's say, Yahiko's cancer was discovered before metamorphosis occurred and they are simply awaiting surgery.. or multiple surgeries. Yeaa... thxx